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A brief ecounter of my journey

  • Thread starter Thread starter welshdragon1
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welshdragon1

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Sep 7, 2016
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UK
During my early childhood memories, of the old school (butcher) dentist, I remember him having to extract some of my back teeth (I can not remember how many) but it was on both sides of my mouth.

I remember him asking me if I wanted the needle or the gas as he pointed towards the gas mask, I though it would make me feel like a fighter pilot & said yes, but as he brought the gas mask closer & closer, the smell made me heave & I was nearly vomiting, so I changed my mind & said I wanted the needle as the smell was making me feel sick, he forced the gas mask on me despite my best efforts to fight him off.

I awoke in the hospital in the next town, after having dissolvable stitches in both sides of my lower gum, which was the downfall & cause of my fear of dentists.

Over the years I have had many an infection, could not properly clean my teeth (tried & tested many a toothbrush, pastes etc) as my gums would always bleed & be sore, I had got so used to the pain that I adopted a high pain threshold, which turned to a discomfort, rather than actual feeling of pain.

Several teeth cracked & broke off, but that did not make me face my fear, my final straw was since being laid off as the firm I worked for went to Belgium, I was & are still looking for new employment, my teeth was in an embarrassing state & I very conscious of the fact that 1st impressions count (Pun may be intended.....lol), & I was also having the dreams, where the rest of my teeth all broke off during my sleep & I chocked on them, after the 10th+ dream, I telephoned quite a few dentists & was told either "We are not taking any more patients on". "We do not deal with NHS patients" & "There is a 6 - 12 month waiting list", the latter being the only one, which is now my dentist.

10 months later (August 2015) I get a call from my dentist, advising that a slot is now available, I make an appointment, goes in to see the very nice oriental dentist, he his very patient & works with you to help you with your fears, as soon as I mentioned the school dentist, he said "I must have about 150+ patients on my books, that have encountered problems with the school dentist", He takes one look & said, there is no easy way to say this, but all you teeth has to come out, I replied "Will that stop the infections", he said "Yes it will, although your gums may take time to heal", I said "That's good as I had geared myself up in the hope they would have to be removed", he said "You will need 3 appointments, 1 for each side & one for the front each being a minimum of 10 days apart", I said ok & made the appointments.

On each appointment, he was very gentle, I didn't even feel the needle go in tbh, by the time he put the needle in the last one of each appointment, the first was numb enough to start work on & extracted the amount required & made impressions per appointment, gave me gauze & sent me on my way, with advice to gargle with salt water & eat plain ice-cream for a few days.

I went in for the prelim dentures in December 2015, he made alterations to then & made them fit, although there was still some swelling, but I also have two bits of bone sticking through my top gum, which prevented me from wearing them, the dentist will sadly not do anything about the bone, although he did say he will see after I have fully healed, so looks like I am lumbered with them.

Here we are in 2016, 7 months later going back & he still refuses to do anything about the bits of bones sticking out, but took some more impressions & I go for three more appointments over the July & August, for Bite, Try & Fit to have my new permanent dentures made up.

Which has brought us to my current dilemma,

The full top set are a little loose & I need Fixodent, to keep them in place but they also have a pinhole in them, that lets the Fixodent through, (if I put in to much) or liquids through to the front of the denture, causing a squishy feeling when I talk, I explained this to the dentist earlier today & he doesn't think it is a problem, but said he could hard reline the top set, but would advise against is as it could go horribly wrong & we would be back to square one needing a new top set, as the top set can not be soft relined.

The full bottom set, needed adjusting as I have two sore spots one on the right side back the other on the front middle, where the gum is joined to the lip & I can not currently eat soup, without it popping off.


He has now made the adjustments & advise I leave bottom set out as much as possibly to help let the sores heal & said, see how it goes, it may be possible that they will have to have a soft reline.

I currently use Fixodent to hold the dentures in as not only are they a loose fit, but I suffer from a dry mouth, that said as many members on here already know the struggle of having to remove the GOOP & how time consuming it is.

I also use Boots, 10 minute soak tablets, to be used in hand hot water, the dentist recommends to use only cold water...., confused, yep I know the feeling.....

I feel it best to leave the dentures in overnight, as 1), longer they are in, it is easier to remove the GOOP, 2) it is easier to fit them back in when cleansed..

I have seen a product called Denture Wipes, mentioned & recommended in the forums for cleaning the GOOP from inside the mouth, sadly I can not find a UK stockist for them.

Here comes some questions, I hope you do not mind.....

  1. What are the Fors & against, for leaving dentures in overnight, even if a good brushing / mouthwash rinse was taken place
  2. What cleansing tablets do you find best
  3. Can the upper Dentures be soft realigned
  4. Could a soft realign on the bottom dentures be a permanent fix or would that have to be a hard realign
  5. What have you found best to help remove the GOOP from inside the mouth
  6. Have you managed to locate a UK stockist for the Denture Wipes or a similar product, that works
  7. What product would you recommend to help, ease the sore spots
  8. How easy is it to get back to normal(ish) eating with the dentures
  9. Does it take long for speech to return to normal, is there any technique to master


TIA

Welshdragon1
 
During my early childhood memories, of the old school (butcher) dentist, I remember him having to extract some of my back teeth (I can not remember how many) but it was on both sides of my mouth.

I remember him asking me if I wanted the needle or the gas as he pointed towards the gas mask, I though it would make me feel like a fighter pilot & said yes, but as he brought the gas mask closer & closer, the smell made me heave & I was nearly vomiting, so I changed my mind & said I wanted the needle as the smell was making me feel sick, he forced the gas mask on me despite my best efforts to fight him off.

I awoke in the hospital in the next town, after having dissolvable stitches in both sides of my lower gum, which was the downfall & cause of my fear of dentists.

Over the years I have had many an infection, could not properly clean my teeth (tried & tested many a toothbrush, pastes etc) as my gums would always bleed & be sore, I had got so used to the pain that I adopted a high pain threshold, which turned to a discomfort, rather than actual feeling of pain.

Several teeth cracked & broke off, but that did not make me face my fear, my final straw was since being laid off as the firm I worked for went to Belgium, I was & are still looking for new employment, my teeth was in an embarrassing state & I very conscious of the fact that 1st impressions count (Pun may be intended.....lol), & I was also having the dreams, where the rest of my teeth all broke off during my sleep & I chocked on them, after the 10th+ dream, I telephoned quite a few dentists & was told either "We are not taking any more patients on". "We do not deal with NHS patients" & "There is a 6 - 12 month waiting list", the latter being the only one, which is now my dentist.

10 months later (August 2015) I get a call from my dentist, advising that a slot is now available, I make an appointment, goes in to see the very nice oriental dentist, he his very patient & works with you to help you with your fears, as soon as I mentioned the school dentist, he said "I must have about 150+ patients on my books, that have encountered problems with the school dentist", He takes one look & said, there is no easy way to say this, but all you teeth has to come out, I replied "Will that stop the infections", he said "Yes it will, although your gums may take time to heal", I said "That's good as I had geared myself up in the hope they would have to be removed", he said "You will need 3 appointments, 1 for each side & one for the front each being a minimum of 10 days apart", I said ok & made the appointments.

On each appointment, he was very gentle, I didn't even feel the needle go in tbh, by the time he put the needle in the last one of each appointment, the first was numb enough to start work on & extracted the amount required & made impressions per appointment, gave me gauze & sent me on my way, with advice to gargle with salt water & eat plain ice-cream for a few days.

I went in for the prelim dentures in December 2015, he made alterations to then & made them fit, although there was still some swelling, but I also have two bits of bone sticking through my top gum, which prevented me from wearing them, the dentist will sadly not do anything about the bone, although he did say he will see after I have fully healed, so looks like I am lumbered with them.

Here we are in 2016, 7 months later going back & he still refuses to do anything about the bits of bones sticking out, but took some more impressions & I go for three more appointments over the July & August, for Bite, Try & Fit to have my new permanent dentures made up.

Which has brought us to my current dilemma,

The full top set are a little loose & I need Fixodent, to keep them in place but they also have a pinhole in them, that lets the Fixodent through, (if I put in to much) or liquids through to the front of the denture, causing a squishy feeling when I talk, I explained this to the dentist earlier today & he doesn't think it is a problem, but said he could hard reline the top set, but would advise against is as it could go horribly wrong & we would be back to square one needing a new top set, as the top set can not be soft relined.

The full bottom set, needed adjusting as I have two sore spots one on the right side back the other on the front middle, where the gum is joined to the lip & I can not currently eat soup, without it popping off.


He has now made the adjustments & advise I leave bottom set out as much as possibly to help let the sores heal & said, see how it goes, it may be possible that they will have to have a soft reline.

I currently use Fixodent to hold the dentures in as not only are they a loose fit, but I suffer from a dry mouth, that said as many members on here already know the struggle of having to remove the GOOP & how time consuming it is.

I also use Boots, 10 minute soak tablets, to be used in hand hot water, the dentist recommends to use only cold water...., confused, yep I know the feeling.....

I feel it best to leave the dentures in overnight, as 1), longer they are in, it is easier to remove the GOOP, 2) it is easier to fit them back in when cleansed..

I have seen a product called Denture Wipes, mentioned & recommended in the forums for cleaning the GOOP from inside the mouth, sadly I can not find a UK stockist for them.

Here comes some questions, I hope you do not mind.....

  1. What are the Fors & against, for leaving dentures in overnight, even if a good brushing / mouthwash rinse was taken place
  2. What cleansing tablets do you find best
  3. Can the upper Dentures be soft realigned
  4. Could a soft realign on the bottom dentures be a permanent fix or would that have to be a hard realign
  5. What have you found best to help remove the GOOP from inside the mouth
  6. Have you managed to locate a UK stockist for the Denture Wipes or a similar product, that works
  7. What product would you recommend to help, ease the sore spots
  8. How easy is it to get back to normal(ish) eating with the dentures
  9. Does it take long for speech to return to normal, is there any technique to master


TIA

Welshdragon1

sorry you are still struggling.
You may want to post these questions directly on the dentistry questions board so a dentist is more likely to see them and answer.
You may also want to post on the support board, you will get more replies there than you will in a journal.
I don't have dentures myself so I am not able to answer most of your questions. The only one I know the answer to is the reason the tell you to leave dentures out over night is to give the gums a chance to rest and recover. some people do choose to keep them in over night. If you do that you should take them out for at least a little while during the day
 
Thank you ScaredyCat22

I will post on both the forums you mentioned......:fingerscrossed:
 
you are most welcome, and I wish you all the best on your denture adventure :)
 
Thank you ScaredyCat22,

I guess all will be ok, after the teething issues are sorted (Pun intended).....lol
 
UPDATE:

I have purchased a 70g tube of Fixodent complete (Original) Mega pack, (as I forgot to take the smaller tube with me to the dentist.....lol), which I used a bit after having the alterations done yesterday & after I got home I could eat a sandwich easier, with no movement, but my sore spots were affected, thus, at this stage I am not sure if the alterations or the different Fixodent product worked best, will experiment & see how it goes.....


I put my bottom denture back in earlier with the Fixodent Duel protection (just using the last of the tube up) to see if it was the different Fixodent product or the adjustments to the denture the dentist done, that worked best, earlier when I ate the sandwich, although it affected the sore spots.

I tried to eat a Bacon & mushroom slice, as they are not too hard nor too soft

The result,

On the second bite & chew, the bottom denture came lose, so that now proves to me at least, that the Fixodent original kept them in the last time, so, I will not be continuing to use the small 10g tube up on the bottom dentures, although it can be used up on the upper dentures.

I bought some Listerine (Cool Citrus) mouthwash, the orange colour one, & tried it out for the first time, when the bottom dentures popped off whilst eating the slice, just now, Boy Oh Boy, it made removing the GOOP a moderate amount easier (still a long way from perfect) but easier nonetheless. (not fussed on the after taste, but a good trade off, for easier removal process)

I can't wait to see how they go in the morning for breakfast.....lol (will update in due course).....

To summarise:

Upper set will have the Fixodent Duel Protection (to use up the small 10g tube) as not to waste any.
Lower will have the Fixodent (Original) 70g Multi Pack, to (keep them in).

It felt a little strange going from a very small tube with a narrow nozzle to a much larger tube with a wider nozzle, which does not fit in the narrow parts of the denture, so trial & error I guess......
 
1. Leaving dentures in would be kind of like sleeping in your shoes and socks. Your gum tissue needs time to breathe! People who leave them in overnight tend to develop fungal infections underneath the denture.
2. Just about any type of cleansing tablet works well. No need to get anything fancy. Also make sure you brush them well with plain soap and water (not toothpaste).
3. Usually a soft reline can be done but I can't really say for sure (your dentist would know better)
4. Soft relines are only a temporary solution to allow the gum tissue to heal. Soft relines don't help up well long term.
5. Haven't found anything good yet.
6. Sorry not in the UK
7. I like CankerX and Orajel for Canker Sores. They'll help coat and numb the sore areas.
8. Learning to eat with dentures is tough, especially in the first 6-12 months after getting your teeth out and before you get your permanent set. Your gum tissue changes quite a bit in that time period so you keep having this problem of your dentures getting loose. It does get better though!
9. Again, everyone is quite a bit different in how quickly they adapt. Some words to work on are "Mississippi" and counting from 60 to 79 several times. These help work out some of the harder sounds to do with dentures.

It sounds like you've got a great attitude about the whole thing, which is the single most important thing when you get dentures.

welshdragon1 said:
Here comes some questions, I hope you do not mind.....

  1. What are the Fors & against, for leaving dentures in overnight, even if a good brushing / mouthwash rinse was taken place
  2. What cleansing tablets do you find best
  3. Can the upper Dentures be soft realigned
  4. Could a soft realign on the bottom dentures be a permanent fix or would that have to be a hard realign
  5. What have you found best to help remove the GOOP from inside the mouth
  6. Have you managed to locate a UK stockist for the Denture Wipes or a similar product, that works
  7. What product would you recommend to help, ease the sore spots
  8. How easy is it to get back to normal(ish) eating with the dentures
  9. Does it take long for speech to return to normal, is there any technique to master


TIA

Welshdragon1
 
1. Leaving dentures in would be kind of like sleeping in your shoes and socks. Your gum tissue needs time to breathe! People who leave them in overnight tend to develop fungal infections underneath the denture.
2. Just about any type of cleansing tablet works well. No need to get anything fancy. Also make sure you brush them well with plain soap and water (not toothpaste).
3. Usually a soft reline can be done but I can't really say for sure (your dentist would know better)
4. Soft relines are only a temporary solution to allow the gum tissue to heal. Soft relines don't help up well long term.
5. Haven't found anything good yet.
6. Sorry not in the UK
7. I like CankerX and Orajel for Canker Sores. They'll help coat and numb the sore areas.
8. Learning to eat with dentures is tough, especially in the first 6-12 months after getting your teeth out and before you get your permanent set. Your gum tissue changes quite a bit in that time period so you keep having this problem of your dentures getting loose. It does get better though!
9. Again, everyone is quite a bit different in how quickly they adapt. Some words to work on are "Mississippi" and counting from 60 to 79 several times. These help work out some of the harder sounds to do with dentures.

It sounds like you've got a great attitude about the whole thing, which is the single most important thing when you get dentures.

Thank you very much Drm

I will

Remove the dentures overnight.
Continue to use the cheap priced cleansing tablets.
Continue to look for similar products, with reviews for Cankerx / Orajel, in the UK

I am

Practising the ("Mississippi" and counting from 60 to 79), currently still whistling with the S's....lol

The other issue about me removing the denture for a long period of time, is the top gum get very dry & after a while get a bit tender at the sides of the gum, rather than the front & I am always rubbing my gum with my tongue (despite trying not to) which makes it worse & I also get a taste almost like sulphur.

I am also concerned about the two bits of bone sticking out in the front of the top gum, for the long term especially as now & then I am sure I can feel liquid coming out from them.
 
If it is bone shards the dentist can remove them, it might be worth checking with him anyway. You can also rub with a bit of tights along the gum sometimes this helps you remove the shards gently.

Singing is a good way of getting used to speaking, talk to yourself and sing as much as you can :butterfly:
 
Hi Carole

It is unfortunately not shards of bone, it is the bone itself sticking out through front of the gum.....:(

I have spoken to the dentist & he keeps on dismissing the issue, & keeps saying, wait until you fully heal, I had the last of my teeth take, out in early December 2015, thus my gums should of fully healed by now, or at least I would of thought so.....

I am worse than the cats choir, when it comes to singing.....lol
 

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