“What to expect when wearing dentures for the first time?”
I am a 69 year old female. I want to know what to expect when wearing dentures for the first time?
7 Answers
One can expect with new dentures that it will be like wearing a new pair of shoes. The difference will be that the sore spots can be adjusted by your dentist who can make them more comfortable from the beginning.
Ulcers and sores.
There are many changes that will happen when wearing dentures for the first time, to many to reasons for the changes also. Some of the most common are, Sores on the gums, change in speech, inability to eat many foods, chewing muscles and TMJ pain, bone loss of the remaining ridges etc.. A highly qualified dentist would advise different options to make dentures more comfortable.
It’s a potential long list, but first timers report “a lot of stuff in the mouth,” less sensation of the texture of food, changes in the quality of taste, inability to put as much force into chewing, and finding more stability in chewing smaller bites and on both sides. These can usually be corrected by the use of implants to support a hybrid denture “all on 4’s”.
When you start wearing dentures, they may seem loose and sore on certain areas of your gums, as well as excessive saliva and loss of taste of food. Until you get used to keeping your dentures in place with the support of your cheeks and tongue muscles, these sore spots will need to be relieved by your dentist and could take several visits. After a few weeks, these problems will go away as your oral tissues will adapt to wearing dentures. However, if you still feel irritation or excessive soreness in any area, contact your dentist’s office.
Getting used to complete dentures is pretty challenging. It takes each person a different amount of time. Remember that the best new dentures are nothing like your original teeth.
The more you wear them, eat with them and speak with them, the faster you will get used to them. Practice speaking by reading aloud to yourself or others. Eat a relatively soft diet to begin with. Take smaller mouthfuls of food because you already have something in your mouth. Avoid foods that are difficult to chew like salads, steak, gummy candies. See your dentist for adjustments if you develop sore spots. Good luck
