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Denture issues

A

Alvin

Junior member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
1
Location
spennymoor, county Durham
Hi,
I am an NHS patient. I recently had 9 teeth removed in hospital under GA as I have an allergy to the local. After about 3 weeks my dentist took an impression for dentures and fitted them a couple of weeks late. After a few days the dentures became loose, the upper one would fall out every time my tongue touched it and the bottom one moved about all the time so I was constantly putting them back in. I went back to my dentist who said he could ease them to fit, I can understand easing them to make them looser but not to tighten them up. I did not want this as after wearing them for about a week I felt uncomfortable in them and could not eat while wearing them and instead asked about bridges instead. He flatly refused bridges, I should point out that at no time prior to this had he discussed my options just went ahead with the dentures. His main argument against bridges was that they were not a viable long term fix. I am 65 years old, with Angina, Diabetes and Heart disease, how lonh does he think long term will be? I complained to the practice manager as I think the treatment should be my choice. He talked to the dentist who told him that he would not do bridges in case my other teeth became loose and because I had some gum disease. He did not talk to me about this or advise on how to treat the gum disease.
Since this happened I have found from online research that he should have waited longer for my gums to harden before fitting permanent dentures and he should have discussed all my options with me. The practice manager has given me a refund and I have returned the dentures to the practice. I now don't know what I can do.
 
Hi there ?

I guess it would be impossible for the dentists here to comment on whether bridges are an option for you or not, without having examined you.

The advice you got seems to be in line with the scope of NHS treatment: "The NHS will provide any clinically necessary treatment needed to keep your mouth, teeth and gums healthy and free of pain".

Bridges aren't usually clinically necessary and in some cases could make your oral health worse. Bridges make good oral hygiene more difficult - it's quite fiddly to properly floss underneath them - so especially if there's existing gum disease, bridges could make things a lot worse quite quickly and you could end up losing your remaining teeth. I think your dentist should have advised you on the gum disease and how to treat it. We've got a page here with lots of tips:


Where can you go from here? If you'd like to try again with another NHS dentist, then looking for another practice that takes on new NHS patients would be a good idea. Maybe you know someone else who is happy with their dentures who can recommend someone. Alternatively, you could look into going private, where more options may be available (obviously, this comes at a cost). Also, have a look at this page, which was written by one of our moderators with first-hand experience of dentures:


Here's hoping that you will find a way forward, and quickly ?
 
The getting looser is very common for the first six months to a year. You should have multiple readjustments until your swelling is completely subsided. They do what is called a soft reline. It is easy to remove for more adjustments as time goes by. It snugs up the fit and when you are ready, they do a hard reline. This is done in the same material as the denture.

Many denturists will do two different dentures. An immediate while you are healing while doing frequent soft relines, and a permanent completely new one at six months to a year.

Others won't do two but they will do frequent soft relines until that six month to a year mark then hard reline the denture.

Keep going back. It is a process and will take time as things keep changing, but keep going back for refits none the less.

ETA: Apologies. I didn't realize this was the dentist forum. Not a dentist. Just wear dentures. Top plate two years now. Just had bottoms removed last week and in healing phase for those.
 
No need for apologies, people's actual experiences and perspectives from the patient's viewpoint are very valuable and a great contribution, please keep contributing.
 
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