Denture question would love advice please.

[scared2bthere]

I'm asking this Q for my signifigant other. He had his upper teeth pulled oh about 5 years ago and recently had his bottoms pulled, about 14 teeth and was given immediate dentures.

He won't wear them. He says the bottom is so thick it looks like he is chewing and the top makes his face look totally different and that he doesn't look like himself. His jaw also hurts and he says it doesn't open and close naturally with the teeth in.

I think it is possible that he needs a new set of dentures that have smaller teeth and thinner gums (not sure what the pink is called).

I don't know what to. The whole idea was to get him teeth so he would feel comfortable and be able to eat better. Now he wishes he still had the teeth he did so he could eat and talk normally because he hates the dentures.

I'm not sure how to approach the Dentist with this or if we even can. These things are costly and I like the Dentist and need work done LOL so I don't want to make him mad.

Do we just let it go and buy more somewhere else or what do we do. We have limited insurance which is maxed out this year for hubby so that's no help. He's tried to tell the Dr. that the bottoms make him feel like he is chewing and the tops and bulky, heavy and nake him look funny but the Dentist tells him various things and doesn't really address that he doesn't like them.

 

[Mary]

Hi I am no dentist or anything but I would say that you should talk to the dentist about your husbands dentures...if there not comfortable and he doesen't like the way they look or feel ,I think the dentist should try and make them work for him.

I just got a full upper demture about 2 weeks ago...and the same thing with mine...there is a lot of gums(plastic)and it bothers me so I told my dentist and he said it can be fixed with the hard reline.

Then if talking to him doesen't work then I would try going somewhere else.

Try to stay positive evrything will work out.

 

[scared2bthere]

Mary,
What is a hard reline? Maybe it would be less expensive than a whole new set.

 

[scaredstiff]

Sorry to hear about your husband's problems. I too had immediate dentures some months back and while the uppers felt perfectly natural from the first, there was always more of a feel of the unnatural about the lowers. I think this is to be expected with lowers, they are always harder so I have always been told because with the upper you have the roof the the mouth to provide suction. It is normal to feel that anything new in the mouth is big and what we ourselves feel like with them in and also feel we look like or sound like is always going to be different to how people actually see or hear us. As they were immediates your husband would have had impressions taken with his own teeth in so these new teeth are made from those impressions. Straight away as soon as the teeth were pulled there were changes in the gum, firstly swollen from the extractions so the teeth might not have fitted as comfortably as possible over the existing gum, hence the feeling of bigness. Hopefully as the swelling subsides, the fit will get better,and so will the feeling of them being too big improve. Your whole mouth and tongue, just like they did with the uppers 5 years ago, have to get used to this new thing in the mouth. But as they were made from impressions, adjustment will most likely need to be made, and usually some minor ones are made within a few days of them being fitted. Some of the plate itself, the pink area, could be filed down if it is sitting too low down in the mouth and perhaps rubbing against the underside of the tongue. If the bite is not perfect, and this too will change as the gums change, this too can be corrected.
So over the coming months your husband, as his gum shrinks can expect a few adjustments, as the denture becomes looser one or two reliners possibly until the time the gums have more or less shrunk to how they will be and a permanent denture can be made.
I think we are very lucky if we get perfectly fitting dentures when they are immediates. The denturist does his/her best but can only work on how the gums and teeth were at the time of impressions and a bit of guesswork at how they will be immediately after extraction. This should have been explained to your husband and possibly the price he was given for extraction and immediate denture included a couple of reliners.
I wish him all the luck with them, they do take getting used to but of course if at all unhappy or they are feeling uncomfortable, a trip back to the dentist is your first port of call.

 

[Mary]

well he told me that a hard reline is when they take more impressions about 6months to a year after the immidiate...then send the denture to the lab and make the adjustments it needs.Of course I only have the top not the bottom.

So good luck to you and your husband
I will be wishing the two of you well.

 

[Gordon]

Lower dentures are far more difficult to wear than upper ones. It would seem likely that your husband's dentures still need some adjustment for him to do better with him, so I'm afraid he'll need to toddle back to the dentist.

It's unlikely that the dentist will be prepared to discuss the matter with you on your own, it's a bit of a grey area, but I am very reluctant to discuss one spouse's treatment with the other, if they're both there at the time, that's different...

Relines are useful after extractions and immediate dentures are fitted, they aren't a universal panacea though, some cases don't require them.

 

[scared2bthere]

No my hubby will be there to discuss it. He's been back twice since the dentures were made and adjustments were made on the lining where they sit on the gum. While the bottoms fit fine on the gumline they stick his lip out too far. He won't even wear them at all now because he is embarassed by the appearance. It's true he doesn't look the same with them and I don't think linings are going to help.

 

[Gordon]

It should be possible to thin the flange of acrylic at the front to prevent it having this effect on his lip. It also shouldn't be that big a job, but bear in mind I haven't seen the dentures, so don't take that as gospel

Either way, having the dentures sit in a drawer isn't doing anybody any good, so get back and discuss it with the dentist.