Gagging

[Cadnam Kat]

I have a friend who (due to the poor condition of his gums) wishes to have all his teeth extracted and have dentures. However, he has a serious gagging problem.
His present dentist is willing to extract the teeth but says my friend will not be able to tolerate the impression process - due to the gagging. He really needs to have a consultation with a dentist who can help him, as his teeth are becoming looser and he is developing problems within this area.
We live near Southampton and wonder if there is a local dentistry where he can seek positive aid? He works near Winchester and could consider that area too?
I have printed off the advice re. gagging that you have on your site but we feel that it needs a co-operative dentist for the techniques being suggested. His present dentist is not offering any solution other than a negative response.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi,

There are some clinics in which they scan the mouth rather than make an impression. It is a rather new technology an I assume less accurate than the traditional impression but it might make the difference for your friend. Maybe his dentist can find such a clinic?

 

[letsconnect]

Hi,

As Daniel has said, there are digital impression technologies such as iTero. I'm not if these are suitable for full-mouth impressions (@Gordon might know?).

We have two recommendations for dentists in Southampton here on the forum - click on the links below:

Clare Chavasse

Peter Sanders

Slavek Slobiecki at Highfield Dental Care also gets very good reviews.

You or your friend could try emailing or ringing all three, see if you can email or speak with the dentist directly, explain the situation and ask how they may be able to help.

One thing to bear in mind - if your friend has a serious gagging problem, it might be quite hard for him to adapt to full dentures. It may be an idea to save some teeth to anchor the dentures if possible so there's not so much material in his mouth. But only a dentist in person would be able to assess the situation.

 

[drhirst]

The problem may not just be the impressions. Whilst his mouth could be scanned instead of the traditional mouthful of slow setting rubber, his is still going to have to cope with the actual dentures when they are delivered. There may be two ways round this:

1) have "teeth in a day" implants . This would mean no coverage of the palate and could all be done under sedation which should deal with the gagging issues. However, this is not affordable for many people.
2) Despite being slightly unconvinced about the powers of hypnosis, I have to say there is a hypnotherapist local to me in Hertfordshire who has helped two of my patients with just such a problem in just handful of visits. Honestly, I would not have believed it if I had not seen the results with my own eyes.
Hope this helps

Lincoln

 

[Enarete]

Hi there,

not a dentist and not familiar with the newest scan technologies, but when it comes to 3D scan I would add that even this might be difficult if your friend has a really serious gagging problem. Tolerating the scanning process in the further areas of the mouth can be challenging as it involves having the scanner moved around there. Not sure whether there is any newest more comfortable scanning technology available.

 

[Gordon]

Getting to the bottom of the gagging would be the first place to start, it sounds like your friend needs help with that first before starting on the dentistry side of things.