Hi guys! I've been where you are now. And I know how absolutely awful it is. I remember feeling just as hopeless. I'll tell you a bit about it.
I had all my teeth removed under general anasthetic. I quickly discovered that the immediate dentures they had made were a TERRIBLE fit for my mouth. So bad that when my dentist first saw them, she said "oh dear". So that was really hard. It was a scary experience, but I was hoping to come off better from it! Yet it didn't seem that I had. They were much too big for my small and awkwardly shaped mouth.
So I spent the first couple of weeks of my recovery with nothing. The worst part was, I had a little complication where the injection site from where they injected the numbing agent reacted badly, and the roof of my mouth really, really hurt. It hurt to swallow anything, even soup or cold milkshake. The first few days especially were just hell on earth.
That thankfully cleared up soon enough, but I was still stuck without teeth. I managed to eat by sticking to things I could mash against the roof of my mouth with my tongue. Boiled potatoes and broccoli and mince and things like that. Once my gums healed, I could use them, and eating became pretty easy once more.
As for the dentures, the dentist took them off me for a couple of days and had them resized. When I got them back, they were a much better fit. My gums shrank as they healed, so they gradually got loose, but using denture adhesive, they were still usable. I could go out and be social and I could eat, though it wasn't particularly comfortable and I didn't use them at home. I lisped for the first days of using them, but if you keep at it, you adjust really fast. And the lisping sounded much more pronounced to me than anyone else. My mother didn't even notice the lisping.
Then, after my gums were done healing and had settled, I got my permanent ones made. They used a process of setting the teeth in wax first so that they could easily resize and reshape both the denture bit and the teeth part. We kept at it until they were a really good fit and looked natural. When I got the finished ones, well, it was finally everything I had hoped for. They look great and are super comfy. I finally don't have to worry about my smile.
As you can see, it was a long and arduous process. But did it get better? Yeah, times a thousand. And was it worth it? Absolutely. I feel so much more free now. I had a really bad dental phobia before as well, and now that I don't have to fear the drill or anything, going to the dentist is a walk in the park.
My specific journey took a little longer than many other people's, thanks to the awkward size of my mouth and gums, so don't let that put you off. Most people have an easier time getting dentures to fit than me.
It's a difficult process, and you will get frustrated and feel hopeless. But you can and will adjust and things will get better.
