Finally, you are getting your dentures today and are celebrating the return of your smile, and even before you walk out of the dental office you realize that it is very difficult to even have a basic conversation with these in your mouth, and boom goes away the happiness. You are not alone, you’ve got to look at it this way, a completely foreign object is inserted in your mouth.
It is going to take some time before the body gets comfortable with ‘that new thing’ in the mouth. Not only will it take time, but a little effort from your side too. The most common difficulties people face are, discomfort obviously, drooling, ulcers( you need to go to your dentist for adjustment in that case), difficulty eating and talking. Let’s address each issue and have you comfortable with those beautiful false teeth at the earliest.
Drooling: There is a lot of salivation initially when you wear the dentures. The mechanism being our body secretes fluids anytime a foreign item is placed in there, like tearing up when we wear lenses, or when a dust particle goes in our eye or nose. So keep swallowing every now and then. Keep a tissue handy to deal with any saliva oozing out.
Speech problems: To regain normal speech you will need nothing but a little practice. Get a newspaper, or your favorite novel and start reading loudly. Repeat the words that seem more difficult. Have conversations with your family. Start with just half an hour of talking loudly with the dentures and gradually as you get comfortable, increase the duration.
Eating problems: Start with soft food. I go to the extent of telling my patients to eat without dentures for a week or so if they feel like. Gradually start eating very small bites of harder foods. Move up to larger morsels only when you can comfortably consume the small bites. Fast-forwarding this ain’t going to help. Also make a note to chew from both sides, to avoid the lifting up of the denture on the opposite side. Another important thing to remember is to bite from the back teeth. These front teeth are not as strong as the real ones, and to bite hard foods you will have to use the back teeth, at the least premolars.
Ulcers: There can be mild soreness for a day two. In that case gargle with warm salt water 2-3 times a day. Anything more than that, you need to go to the dentist for adjustments. If there is ulceration, they will smoothen the denture further or trim it to relieve the ulcer region. Once this is done you might again have to wait 3-4 days to check if the problem is solved. And meanwhile, do remember to apply the prescription gel to prevent any infection in the ulcerated area.
Hope this helps, happy denturing!!
Similar Reads:
