Partial Denture Questions - Extremely nervous!

[leo1988]

Hello...

So very long story but I have recently suffered some dental trauma and on Friday will be having one my front teeth (not one of the main 2 but the 1 next to them) removed and at the same time will be given a partial denture. I have a real toothloss/denture phobia and have been distraught over this and am really really hoping that there are people out there that can offer some reassurance! I get so nervous at the dentist that I'm not confident enough or forget to ask the questions I want to. This is totally the opposite of my usual personality but I guess we all have things we struggle with...

So I was wondering if there are any other partial denture wearers out there that could answer my questions? Such as:

• How will my speech be affected? This is huge concern to me due to my job
  
• Eating... will it ever be enjoyable again? Again this is a big worry as I had anorexia as a teenager and don't want to fall into the habit of not eating
  
• Exercise.. A bit of a random one but will ot feel secure enough in my mouth for me to run? And what about swimming?
  
• Another weird one.. won't the extraction site bleed after the tooth is removed? So will the blood be all over the denture?
  

A bone graft and eventually and implant is the future plan but a good while off yet :-(

Would really appreciate hearing other's experience of this.. Can't quite believe this is happening to me at 30yrs old, especially when I've always been neurotic about dental hygeine!

TIA xx

[BabyCowUsesPotty]

I work at a dentist and what you’ve said about not being confident is really common. Could you ring up and ask to speak to one of the nurses? We tend to be less scary (lol) and people open up to us a bit easier sometimes.

Speech- yes it’ll be different as you’ll have a bit of plastic in there. We normally recommend practicing talking (read aloud to yourself) and in front of a mirror to get more confident.

Eating will also be different, but you’ll get used to it. Did you have braces as a teen? I imagine it’s similar to getting used to them.

Exercise - it should be firm enough to run and swim. But I’d take it easy for first week or so and then start slow. You could use fixative, but often t isn’t needed, especially if only 1 tooth on denture.

Bleeding - yes it will bleed. The denture will put pressure on and help bleeding to stop and to keep blood clot in. Follow the dentists instructions for how long and how to take care of the socket.
When you leave the surgery they’ll make sure you’re not covered in blood. Ask for a mirror (they surely will offer) and you can check.

Honestly people who don’t know what’s happened won’t notice the denture. Really they won’t.

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

I have a little flexible partial denture - mine is tiny and completely invisible. It hooks onto the neighbouring teeth with silicon-type clasps, and has no actual plate. Mine replaces a missing lower molar, and before getting it I had a gap for ages, so it felt really odd at first, but my speech was actually fine. I am used to wearing a night guard for bruxism which is much bulkier, so that possibly helped me adapt to it quickly. I read the cat stories for the first few nights, because I was paranoid about lisping, but no-one ever noticed!

I had to go back to the dentist twice to have it shaved down because it was causing ulcers, but once it was settled it was perfect. My situation was a bit different because no-one ever saw the gap, so it was easy to leave the denture out, but don’t be concerned if it needs adjusted. I think after the tooth comes out your gum will shrink a bit, so the fit might change.

I keep mine in one of those little plastic pots Boots sell for decanting cream etc into on flights. I also carry one in my bag in case I ever need to take it out at work. (I never have.)

Re eating, I find that chewed food can sit round its base. This is possibly just because of where it is, or possibly because I don’t feel my gum there because of the silicon “saddle”. I always check after eating, and sometimes give it a rinse. Things like nuts feel really weird against it, but it’s a back tooth, so you probably won’t have to worry about that.

I’m early 40s, btw - I had the tooth missing for about ten years after a failed root canal, and just got the denture (which I paid a lot of money for privately although I actually do have an NHS dentist) last year. Since getting it I have found out that one of my closest friend’s husband - who I have known for 20 years - has had his two front teeth on a plate all that time. I never would have guessed!

Sorry this post is so long. I think it’s something people just don’t talk about. FWIW, my teeth are my most complimented feature, so it happens to the best of us!

[incinemasnow]

I had one of my front teeth out last summer & was fitted with a flexible partial denture & had no problems with it. It's really difficult for other people to tell it's there & yes i got used to it really quickly.
Im careful about what i bite into (i cut apples into slices) & some foods get caught in the plastic bits.
My old tooth was broken in an accident & infected so was painful & i couldn't eat properly anyway so this denture feels so much better than my original tooth!
I had to be sedated to have my original tooth extracted so don't know if there was much blood, there certainly wasn't by the time they let me go home, if anything the denture helped stop the bleeding - my dentist said it was like a plaster on the gums & helped keep the wound clean.
Im not into running but go swimming. At first i kept my mouth shut when I did aquarobics just in case my tooth fell out (it never has either in the pool or on dry land!!).
I hope it goes well on Friday

[leo1988]

Thank you for the kind and helpful responses.. babycowusespotty you are definitely right about the nurses.. My dentist is lovely but I do find the dental nurse much easier to talk to.

I feel a little better after reading all your responses but still incredibly nervous... Have actually arranged to do a few KIT days this week as otherwise I'd get myself into a right state moping about at home.

The speech thing... How long do you think to sound normal? Xx

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

leo I’m a lecturer so I was really, really paranoid about speech! I had it fitted in the Christmas holidays just past, so I had a bit of time to get used to it before going back to work. I got it on the Wednesday, and my DP said he couldn’t hear any difference. I spent Thursday talking constantly to him (and the cat when he was out), and by Friday was confident enough to go out for lunch with a friend in terms of both eating and talking. By the time I went back to work I didn’t even notice it.

I do find my mouth can feel a bit drier when I am doing a lot of teaching, but I have had a sinus infection dragging on forever, so that is probably partly to blame. I bring a bottle of water into classes just in case.

[leo1988]

Thank you Judystilldreamsofhorses. I'm due to go back to work from maternity leave in a few weeks - actually put the date back a couple of weeks to give myself time to adjust but it would be amazing if I'm lioe you and it only takes a few days... Fingers crossed!

[incinemasnow]

Hope it went well today

[leo1988]

Thank you for thinking of me! It's certainly an experience isn't it... But it was much better than I expected.

I'm not sure I was prepared for the amount of plastic! Sounds silly but although the dentist had said there would be a plate, I hadn't realised the plastic would come down the back/inside of my teeth so there's plastic literally everywhere, not just on the roof of my mouth. Is yours like that?

Speaking is somewhat difficult at the minute although greatly improved by 2hrs of reading aloud from my son's books!

Hard to imagine eating, again I hadn't realised the little ridges would be on the bottom of my teeth which makes me a bit nervous about biting into things.

I'm a bit self conscious at the look of it.. the actual tooth is quite good but the pretend gum is a different colour to my natural gum so I feel it makes the denture very obvious when I laugh or smile.

Please tell me it all gets better! Just feels very strange right now!

[Marriedwife21]

Hi @leo1988
Justnwkmdering how younened up getting in with the partial?
I'm due to have a lower one next wednesday for the left and right canine teeth, I have been such a emotional wreck though the whole process and keep trying to reassure myself that it cant possibly be as bad as what I'm imagining.
Tia

[Marriedwife21]

Sorry my quick typing just ended up as non readable 😲 was supposed to say wondering how you ended up getting on with your partial? 😂