Newly fitted dentures question

TheLivingDead

Hi folks.

Any help appreciated.

Yesterday I had dentures fitted for the first time ever in my upper arch (dentist removed 10 teeth - some were chipped, others were stubs) - and had my denture pre made. Quite a traumatic experience but was grateful he had the denture ready to go.

imgur.com/VLN12hO.jpg

I return on Thursday to get 7 or 8 teeth removed from lower arch and another brand new set of dentures fitted.

For the first few hours after surgery yesterday there was profuse bleeding which thankfully subsided and pain was alleviated by Nurofen. Bleeding is only minimal now and seems to be gradually stopping.

Anyways, the concern I have is my speech and diction is completely askew - I mean COMPLETELY. My pronunciation is awful, I feel at any moment the denture will become loose (dentist gave me a tube of Fixodent Plus which I haven't quite mastered yet), and my face and jaw is completely swollen and bloated - I look bloody ridiculous.

I am due to start a new job next Monday, while also having a couple of final stage interviews for other jobs later this week.

The questions I have are

1. Will my speech return to normal and if so when?
2. Will the swelling and bloating go away and my face look like it did before? (Guessing having 10 teeth pulled is a lot of trauma on gums hence the swelling)
3. How often do I apply Fixodent and how often do I remove dentures to clean or wash mouth?
4. Do I brush my teeth as normal?
5. Will I ever be able to eat proper food as at the moment im living off smoothies, yoghurts and scrambled eggs

Thanks

Dianthus

Touch base with your dentist to discuss all the above. Defer your treatment on Thursday if you are concerned about interviews on Monday.
Dentures are a huge adjustment,& "immediate dentures" always even more so. Like having leg amputations & expecting to walk on the wooden pegs straight away....takes time, practice, & perseverance.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Dianthus wrote: »

Touch base with your dentist to discuss all the above. Defer your treatment on Thursday if you are concerned about interviews on Monday.
Dentures are a huge adjustment,& "immediate dentures" always even more so. Like having leg amputations & expecting to walk on the wooden pegs straight away....takes time, practice, & perseverance.

100% this. Big adjustment, dont underestimate it.

TheLivingDead

Thanks guys

So how long are we talking for for my diction and pronounciation to return?

Weeks?

Months?

It's so frustrating

ballsymchugh

TheLivingDead wrote: »

Thanks guys

So how long are we talking for for my diction and pronounciation to return?

Weeks?

Months?

It's so frustrating

practice. anyone who leaves my surgery with a new denture, no matter if it's their first or their tenth, is told to practice speaking as much as possible over the next few days.
the easiest thing to do is count from one to twenty to yourself. you will need to figure out where your tongue will go to avoid lisping etc, but it's only you that can figure it out. then with time your tongue will be conditioned to going where it will sound better.
it's all about practice. a lot of people get it over a couple of days, some take longer.

TheLivingDead

ballsymchugh wrote: »

practice. anyone who leaves my surgery with a new denture, no matter if it's their first or their tenth, is told to practice speaking as much as possible over the next few days.
the easiest thing to do is count from one to twenty to yourself. you will need to figure out where your tongue will go to avoid lisping etc, but it's only you that can figure it out. then with time your tongue will be conditioned to going where it will sound better.
it's all about practice. a lot of people get it over a couple of days, some take longer.

Thanks so much

I've been singing song lyrics to myself as well as reading books aloud.

The worrying and frustrating thing is I feel the denture could come away from the pallet at any moment when I speak - I think I may be using too much/too little polygrip/fixadent

Also there is a massive increase in salive affecting my speech

ballsymchugh

TheLivingDead wrote: »

Thanks so much

I've been singing song lyrics to myself as well as reading books aloud.

The worrying and frustrating thing is I feel the denture could come away from the pallet at any moment when I speak - I think I may be using too much/too little polygrip/fixadent

Also there is a massive increase in salive affecting my speech

anything that you put into your mouth will make you salivate. that's another thing you have to condition with time!

regarding the fixodent, i advise patients to try not to use it. some of them may have no option depending on how the fit is, especially with an immediate denture as using it prevents the denture developing good suction. now, if it has to be used, it has to be used, but try using as little as possible. maybe start with a little dab of it right in the middle of the denture and reduce it over the next few days (but not on days of interviews, to be safe!!)
there's a ridge at the back of the denture that needs to dig in to the palate to help it develop suction and help stability, and if you depend on the fixodent, then that will never dig in so you won't get the benefit of it.

caveat here, immediate dentures can be hit and miss, and usually need to be replaced after months of healing. sometimes people take to them like a duck to water and you might never see them again. it's impossible to know what the fit is like from reading what you type.

TheLivingDead

ballsymchugh wrote: »

anything that you put into your mouth will make you salivate. that's another thing you have to condition with time!

regarding the fixodent, i advise patients to try not to use it. some of them may have no option depending on how the fit is, especially with an immediate denture as using it prevents the denture developing good suction. now, if it has to be used, it has to be used, but try using as little as possible. maybe start with a little dab of it right in the middle of the denture and reduce it over the next few days (but not on days of interviews, to be safe!!)
there's a ridge at the back of the denture that needs to dig in to the palate to help it develop suction and help stability, and if you depend on the fixodent, then that will never dig in so you won't get the benefit of it.

caveat here, immediate dentures can be hit and miss, and usually need to be replaced after months of healing. sometimes people take to them like a duck to water and you might never see them again. it's impossible to know what the fit is like from reading what you type.

Thank you so much for your tips and advice kind sir

Here is how they look when in at the moment

imgur.com/VLN12hO.jpg

Yeah you're spot on with what you say about immediate dentures being hit and miss - my dentists did say they wouldn't be 100% accurate as the impression was taken before extractions and it was a loose estimate of how they would fit

So with everything being said, your advice is to talk as often as possible in order to allow my speech to adjust?

TheLivingDead

He wouldn't extract and fit the bottom arch today as he said the upper arch gums needed a few extra days healing to bring down the swelling which kinda makes sense, so I'm back Thursday next week to get them done then

He kinda modified the upper denture to make it more comfortable - shaved bits off it so it would fit better - and it does. I still can't string a sentence together however

decky1

got some upper dentures[4 teeth] 30 years ago , thought i'd never talk properly ever again , felt like i had a Matchbox in my mouth, but thankfully they sat in place after a short time, but maybe get back to have them looked at .good luck.

TheLivingDead

decky1 wrote: »

got some upper dentures[4 teeth] 30 years ago , thought i'd never talk properly ever again , felt like i had a Matchbox in my mouth, but thankfully they sat in place after a short time, but maybe get back to have them looked at .good luck.

My upper dentures have 12 teeth so guessing it will take me an eternity to speak properly again?

Also the amount of saliva im producing is absolutely ridiculous

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Nah you will adapt quickly. Practice reading out loud in private for a few hours and you will quickly teach yourself. You give kids big bulky braces, they lisp for a few days and then they are normal again.

With anything like this, a terrific and positive outlook is going to help a lot. Positive patients have way better outcomes that those that let it get them down.

On an aside there are 40 million american that have a complete denture.

TheLivingDead

Johan Incalculable Motorcycle wrote: »

Nah you will adapt quickly. Practice reading out loud in private for a few hours and you will quickly teach yourself. You give kids big bulky braces, they lisp for a few days and then they are normal again.

With anything like this, a terrific and positive outlook is going to help a lot. Positive patients have way better outcomes that those that let it get them down.

On an aside there are 40 million american that have a complete denture.

If I was to put 2 hours of reading aloud in a day do you think it'll take long to restore my natural speech and diction and pronounciation?

I'm ridiculously positive in terms of my appearance going forward, but there's still apprehension about the speech as well as wearing them in social situations, whether they could fall out, and also is there a certain stigma or embarrassment associated with wearing them.

To an untrained eye they look great, but I do worry something could happen

Doctor Nick

How's your speech now if you don't mind answering? Can I ask how long it took to go through the whole process? Was it expensive? I've had to accept the fact I'm going to need dentures before the year is out. I've already had one front tooth fall out and others are going to follow soon enough. I definitely need to look into this but have no idea how to start.