Feeling very low (new dentures)

[Munchie]

Hi All

I have trawled this site for the last 2 weeks - it is great and helped me psychologically with my transition to having extractions and full dentures. Nobody can possibly know what it's like unless they have actually been through it so it is great to be able to read and share stories for hope. I just feel the need to have a vent today as I have no one to talk to and feel a bit hopeless. Sorry if I ramble too much.

I had my 6 remaining lower teeth extracted 11 days ago and 6 remaining uppers extracted 9 days ago and am wearing a full set of immediate dentures.

I have tried and am trying to be positive and want to make it work - what esle can I do.

But I am feeling so depressed the last couple of days

Sockets are healing well although I still have stitches over graft sites (will be having some implants down the track)

But I have so many ulcers it has been agony removing and reinserting dentures for cleaning. I left them in all the time until two nights ago as advised (and that took all my willpower I can tell you) and now leave them out overnight which is heaven. At least I can get them back in which I feared I wouldn't if swelling got bad and have finally got some sleep. The ointment prescribed for the ulcers doesn't stay on.

I have seen the dental prosthetist three times since who has adjusted them with some relief (only to throw up another sore spot instead). Dentist and prosthetist have been great for a patient like me who is very anxious about dentists. Dentures look fab and fit quite tightly, so no issues with them falling loose yet. (Have before and after photos on the success story forum)

On top of the ulcers my doctor says I have oral thrush due to new dentures and antibiotic treatment prior to extractions for abcess. My whole mouth hurt, tongue, throat, everything and felt yuk. Even drinking water stung and the salt mouthwashes were challenging. So now I have lozenges to treat that and think it might be starting to work.

Still can't eat, had nothing solid since day before first extractions, feeling lightheaded and weak from that. The slightest texture in anything is like having raw mouth rubbed with coarse sand.

Had to take more time off work than I anticipated (I am a counsellor so need to be comfortable both physically and in the right headspace which I am definitely not in at the moment) and feel very guilty about letting clients down. I have had no problem with speech though so that is a positive.

I'm trying to pitch the positives against the negatives and come up with a longer list of positives (good looking teeth, better overall health, no more toothaches or dentist visits) but at the moment it feels like I may not be out of discomfort for the foreseeable future and unable to eat normally again. I used to eat a lot of salads and veg and the prospect of that at present looks impossible. Add to that the knock on effect of a drastic change in diet to the digestive tract and I am struggling to not feel sad and negative. I have read that some people just don't get used to dentures, especially the lowers which are giving me the most grief.

I am used to listening to peoples woes and helping them find alternatives to negative thinking - now I need someone to listen to my woes and hopefully give me some reassurance. Dental prosthetist says what I am experiencing is normal. What can I expect on the road to recovery? I know we are all different. Guess I am just looking for some reassurance and hope from people who have had the experience of immediate dentures to lift my mood for the day.

Thanks for listening

 

[Deejay]

Well done for going ahead and getting yourself sorted I have a full upper and partial lower and yes the lowers are the worse, lots say so both on here and people I have spoken to, just keep going back and getting them trimmed esp. If after a week or so they are still just as bad I find baby teething gel kept in fridge and placed on denture at the bad areas and popped back in my mouth helps or any other mouth ulcer gel, try to keep them in as much as you can even to eat, even if this means cooking veg so it's softer having them boiled in a soup and using the water with flavourings helps you have your veg and the goodness and fruit softened in microwave or as smoothies but you may also have to have stodgy food pasta, potatoes to fill you up but steamed fish is quite easy to manage so you can still eat quite well just differently. I get fed up of having sore spots my top teeth were a breeze in comparison I last out as long as I can I try to use fixative either paste powder or strips before my meals to keep the food out I actually long for my gums to shrink!!!! Then they should behave just keep practising everything speech and foods let your new teeth play with different stuff try to always eat with them in its like any artificial anything it is sometimes soul destroying but eventually you win a minor battle with a food item it sure does take time don't be in a rush let nature work on the gums just try to keep eating as well as you can and keep up your oral hygiene, don't feel afraid to go back and get them trimmed the dentist will advise against it if they think you need to give yourself a little longer but they will certainly help you as much as they can to stay as comfortable as possible, stay brave, stay smiling, stay positive. We will get there (as I reach for the ulcer gel before bed) good luck you are not alone in your experience
D.J

 

[Munchie]

Thanks for your support and encouragement Deejay

How long since you had yours done? It sure helps to know what I am experiencing is not unusual.
I know I am going to have to go with the flow. It is what it is and I have to deal with it on a day by day basis. It was going to have to happen one day so may as well be now.
I keep the dentures in all day (even though I absolutely dread putting them back in each morning and it takes half an hour for them to feel anything like they were made especially for me and stings my whole mouth).
I have the baby teething gel and sounds like a good idea to keep it in the fridge.

Tried sloppy scrambled egg yesterday - it hurt so much to eat it

 

[carole]

Hi I am putting you a couple of links in here that might help with things to eat

Soft Food Ideas

Lots of soft food ideas for recovering after tooth extractions or other dental procedures, or when you have dental problems.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

I hope this helps you. I hope you feel better soon

 

[Deejay]

Go back and get the worst spots sorted out but keep in mind your mouth will change so they don't want to remove too much I have had my bottom partial 6 weeks but endured 4 weeks in hospital trying to deal with other things as well as the NHS menu my denture aches paled into the distance although I do remember thinking the top were a breeze in comparison and I did call in the dentist at one point to deal with a bad spot but others appeared in their place, still got a couple of ulcers so may need another fine tune but as long as they don't move too much it doesn't hurt too bad, I also find that it feels like the teeth I put in my mouth are not mine first thing but it now starts to sit ok after about 5 mins, I do get and occasional problem trapping that soft tissue under my tongue in my denture when eating or my denture lifts and a big piece of food goes underneath and I'm sort of in limbo, trying to put everything in the right order without choking!! All part of the learning curve I guess, the last few mornings I have strangely forgotten to put them in as with it being so hot lately I have been going straight from bed downstairs to the shower room and although all my natural teeth stuff and denture stuff is duplicated downstairs my teeth have been still upstairs whether this means I am more comfortable with the feeling of being without them or that in or out they feel ok I'm not sure but I try to read it as a good sign
I just work round what I know I can manage to eat I have not tried fried bacon or steak, chops or home roast joints of meat yet and I stay away from hard food, but it all takes time even when the denture doesn't rub the gum is still soft so you can't place too much pressure on it and be careful with sweets esp. Hard sweets there is not the same space in there and a boiled sweet or chocolate takes up a lot of space and doesn't melt as quick,!!!
just deal with things in a small time frame and each achievement is a big bonus there is no rule for how long it will take, put some teething gel on and give it time to deaden up the gum a little before putting your denture in if possible and when you remove them at night suck a mouth ulcer lozenge to help calm the sore spots before they have a rest at night. I wish you well, see what you dentist can do with the worst affected areas though, all the best xx
D.J

 

[Munchie]

Thanks again Deejay
Have been back 4 times to sort out sore spots - seem to have finally got somewhere. Can wear them without pain most of time, still have a big ulcer that feels like a crater but not mega painful. Can't eat more than soup/yogurt with them in. Feels that I will never eat 'normal' food again although that's hopefully just my emotions at the moment and not reality.
Has been very hard going back to work. Feel like I am on show and people are obviously staring at my mouth so I am more self conscious than when I had bad teeth. The change in my bite and appearance is quite obvious and although the teeth look so much better I somehow feel that everyone is judging me.
Oh well. It's a new and strange phase in my like to conquer although just at this moment I feel like putting a bag on my head and crawling back into my hole rather than go to work.
Thanks heaps for your support. Hope your health is on the mend.
Cheers

 

[carole]

Hi Munchie it is a slow process reading what people say on here about getting used to dentures but you do sound as if you are making progress with this. I don't have dentures so I don't know how you feel, but I can imagine that with teeth the same as hair we do feel like you are feeling.

I don't think anyone is judging you and they may not be noticing as much as you are thinking they are. It is a big thing to get used to in so many ways that we lose sight of the positives. You have all the altering that needs doing, the sore mouth, learning to speak and your tongue getting used to all the changes too. As well as the mental effect it has on you and to be facing people at work I think you are doing very well

I hope you feel better soon, I am sure as time goes on you will

 

[Deejay]

Glad to hear you are making progress, I was going to go back with my sore spot but it's gone Ha Ha just need loads of teething gel and patience!!! It's not a quick fix by any means but it comes to, had my first fight with some salad tonight ate it it all, eventually
did have an unfortunate episode yesterday getting fed up of food going under top plate so decided halfway through meal to glue teeth in , big mistake it felt horrible like it was burning, I whipped out the top plate and the gag reflex took over let's just say I had an empty tummy that lunchtime
Never Again!
My infection markers are still a little elevated so back on another week of 2 antibiotics and not allowed to go back to work yet no fair!
you just hang in there it slowly gets better x x
good luck,
not been on as a bad thunder and lightning storm killed of my router for Internet and my phone/ fax/answer machine give up
D.J

 

[Munchie]

Deejay - I was thinking about trying to glue my bottom ones in for the first time today then I read your experience
Have you used the glue before?
My bottom denture just floats around now, it is three weeks since extractions. I am vernturing to try eating different things but would oh so love some salad. As you have mastered salad now I know there is hope for me yet!
Ate out the other day for the first time and the only thing on the pub menu that looked like any possibility for me was fish and chips. Fish was easy, chips almost impossible, my friends couldn't see them wasted so helped me out with them
I just seem to have an ulcer that won't heal and isn't even really painful, just a crater on the inside of the lower ridge. Don't know whether I should go back and see what can be done and not sure when to ask about relines. I was told relines are needed when the dentures are literally falling out. Well, the top is ok, good suction, but the bottoms like I said just perch on the ridge and float around if I eat.
Hope this is your last round on antiobiotics