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New dentures (Talk like I have a speech impediment! Ahhh!

C

Chris D

Junior member
Joined
May 25, 2020
Messages
2
Location
Bullhead City Az
I just had 10 horrible teeth removed and got a full plate on top and partial on bottom three days ago and I can't talk right! ...whistling, slurring I sound like I have a speech impediment. I feel like my mouth is full of plastic and like this will never be right ! Will I ever sound normally? I have no support from anyone and I feel like I made a bad decision even though my teeth were history and giving me a lot of pain. I'm ok with the way they look and I'm just in the healing dentures not my final ones. I did this to have more confidence but to be honest it's worse. Is this due to them not fitting right or will it go away cause the way I talk right now is not going to work for anything but depression and anxiety. Please help.
 
Heyy! I have a full plate on top and bottom!

I super know your suffering, haha. Please be calm! It's all...practice.

Okay so, when your mouth has a whole new foreign object in it, as in the top roof-plate, your tongue kind of freaks out? It's sooo normal to lisp! Super normal. Very fine! It will go away! I don't lisp at all now.

To get it to go away the fastest, talk all the time. Play songs that you love to sing along to. Talk to your pets, family, houseplants. Count from 65 to 75, over and over. The lisp will naturally ease as your mouth adjusts.

Please check the dentures FAQ! I and Gordon, one of our excellent dentists, wrote it together. It should answer a lot of your questions.

The first few weeks following a clearance and dentures are always hard. Your mouth feels strange, everything is messed up, talking is hard, eating is hard. It's upsetting, it's emotional. It will pass, I promise. It's just a period of adjustment. The FAQ should answer many of your questions. The fact that you have your temporary dentures can make it harder - your gums will shrink really fast, and the dentures may become loose. But all the denture-practice you do now will pay off big time when you get your long-term dentures fitted! I didn't lisp at all when I had my "permanents" (they're not indefinite, but you know what I mean) fitted.

So please hang in there. If you have any further questions, I'm here for you! You can PM me if you want! ?
 
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Thank you for your response ...I'm feeling a little better about this after your kind words and advice. I see my dentist tomorrow for my post op appointment is there anything you would advise me to talk to him about concerning my speech issues?
 
Hi Chris D,

I completely agree with Sevena. There’s no denying that it’s a really difficult time. Immediate replacement of teeth is just the challenging stage to get through but there is light at the end of the tunnel and when you get around to the replacement dentures they’ll be much easier to adapt to. You’ll also have the luxury of a trial appointment to ensure that you’re happy with the appearance and speech etc at that stage.

In the meantime, yes your speech will improve hugely. As Sevena said, the more you practice the quicker it’ll happen- it’s a bit like physiotherapy! I also advise my patients to talk and sing to themselves. The more you make the sounds the more your mouth, muscles, tongue, denture control will get used to making them.

Another important point is that the difference tends to be much more noticeable to you, the person than it is to anyone else. Within a week or you’ll probably sound like yourself to anyone other than your nearest and dearest.

As we know your speech will improve, the main aim of your review appointment with the dentist will be to ensure that the dentures are comfortable- especially after so many teeth being removed at the same time. If any areas are rubbing and causing an ulcer then it’s best to adjust it and make it more comfortable. The more comfortable they are the quicker everything else will fall into place.

I wish you all the best with the progress. You’ll get there. Everything’s going to be ok.

Niall
 
Hi Chris,

I have full dentures and can confirm everything Sevena and the good Doctor said. Those first couple weeks are the hardest but it does get easier. As they said, talk aloud when you’re alone, read articles out loud, sing - all of these helped me. I work in an office and talking to clients on the phone was unavoidable so I did all that I could to make it less noticeable. No one - not one single person mentioned the difference in my speech, so I can also confirm that it’s going to seem much worse to you than to anyone else.
And I know so well the feeling of making a mistake, but you haven’t. For me, as hard as it was getting adjusted to the dentures paled in comparison to the pain before I had them extracted. I too thought I’d never get used to them, and didn’t believe when people told me I would. It does get better. There is no time frame as everyone heals and adjusts differently, but one day you’ll notice that it’s easier than the day before. I’ve had my temporary set since September, and have finally started the process of getting the permanent set. Now I’m way more uncomfortable with them out than with them in, and that’s a huge change from where I started.
 

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