To ask if anyone has partial dentures ( please don't laugh)

[McHappyPants2012]

After 6 years of hell with my front teeth I had them out Friday and now got to wear dentures until the site heals approx 3-4 months then can have a bridge

My mouth is very sore where the denture is and I can not eat unless it soup or very soft.

How long will the last, I feel rather embarrassed as I am only 26

my sympathies to you,did the dentist not tell you to take them out so you could clean the denture and wash your mouth out(usually 24 hrs later).Eating will be a bit awkward just now but will soon get better.

Yes 24 hours then salt water < boak> and clean them after every meal, am doing all this but it still sore

p.s. meant to say if you are a smoker maybe the pain could be what dentists call dry socket,something to do with not healing the right way,don't know the technical term for it.

Hi, I have dentures due to an accident when I was 16 and they fit in around the teeth that could be saved. No one has ever even noticed them in 21 years. When you do take them out to brush your teeth make sure you fill the sink up a little bit with water because if you drop them and they break they can cost a lot to repair

I have a little pot I fill with cold water to put them in when brushing.

Glad to know I am not the only young wearer of dentures. Just hope to get used to them soon and nobody notices

The soreness should start going, from the extraction, in a couple of days. After that, if they are still sore, buy some Daktaryn Oral Gel and rub it on, or put it on the denture then replace in mouth.

I have partial, front, dentures after the teeth holding my bridge snapped. You do get used to them, although you can feel selfconscious for a while. Better the denture than hell with your natural teeth, I say.

Hope it gets better soon.

Has anyone considered dental implants? Expensive up front but a permanent solution.

If I can have them it will be worth looking into

I have implants for my front three teeth (two implants for the three teeth). I wore dentures for around a year whilst everything settled down (lost mine in an accident so some trauma involved) and through the implant stages. They shouldn't be sore once you've healed a bit but if they do then go back to your dentist.

Absolutely recommend the implants though - I had mine done on the NHS due to the trauma thing so didn't have to fund them myself which helped obviously.

I broke my two front teeth when I was 12 and had a removable plate until I was in my late 20's when I had a bridge fitted. You get used to it - I learned how to flick it out with my tongue and grin gappily at small children, then slot it back in and smile innocently when they tugged their mum's arm and whispered loudly "That lady hasn't got any teeth!"
Worst things to eat were soft bread as your teeth come out with it, hard crunchy apples and seedy things like raspberries.

If you can afford it now, or in the future, get implants, they are worth the (considerable) expense. I have defective teeth (much more brittle than normal), and had several removed in teens and 20's as they shattered right through the root.

In my late 30's I had implants (5 implants for 6 teeth), and 5 years later I still think "I am so glad I did it" - from a functional, as much as a cosmetic POV.

If you do go for implants, shop around, don't go for the cheapest, don't get "mini implants", they don't last (they are usually fitted in one visit I think), and think carefully about why your teeth were a problem in the first place as this may affect your risks of the implants not lasting a lifetime (if you smoke, the rejection rate of the implant is much higher), if you had a specific problem with your jaw/teeth, you may need a specialist dental implant surgeon like I did, this will cost even more but if that means it works, it's worth the extra!

If you can afford it now, or in the future, get implants, they are worth the (considerable) expense. I have defective teeth (much more brittle than normal), and had several removed in teens and 20's as they shattered right through the root.

In my late 30's I had implants (5 implants for 6 teeth), and 5 years later I still think "I am so glad I did it" - from a functional, as much as a cosmetic POV.

If you do go for implants, shop around, don't go for the cheapest, don't get "mini implants", they don't last (they are usually fitted in one visit I think), and think carefully about why your teeth were a problem in the first place as this may affect your risks of the implants not lasting a lifetime (if you smoke, the rejection rate of the implant is much higher), if you had a specific problem with your jaw/teeth, you may need a specialist dental implant surgeon like I did, this will cost even more but if that means it works, it's worth the extra!

HMMMM not sure what happened there!

Blackpud - lucky you! I have heard that accidental tooth loss is sometimes funded for implants...... was a bit that a medical condition directly causing tooth fracture was not funded! But after years of pain and trauma, I am just really glad I had them replaced, I have a functional bite again and no pain so worth the ££££.

I've had a partial upper denture for years but this year, after treatment for cancer, I lost most of the lower teeth, and now have a lower denture as well. To be honest, I'm finding it an utter nightmare. I come out of work, and before I've got as far as the car, I've got it whipped out, it's just so so sore. This is since January, so I can't imagine me ever getting used to it. OP, if it's just an upper one, you'll get used to it and it won't take so long - sorry but I don't think I can say the same if it's a lower one.

it is a lower one :(

Lower dentures are a really difficult problem. We had a little rhyme at dental school:

Dentures are brilliant
Dentures are right
The top one is perfect
The bottom one's shite

A bridge is an excellent and cost effective alternative to
Implants, you just need to wait for healing to finish & there's not much you can do to speed that up I'm afraid.

One eye tooth on the top broke due to a defect with my own teeth (something that could apparantly have been remedied when I was a child quite easily but my parents didn't? Still don't know why but probably money was an issue) and I need to wear a denture. I hate wearing it and hate eating with it. I want to have an implant and am saving up. However, I absolutely love how it looks! My old tooth was slightly crooked. Not a lot but it really makes a HUGE difference in photos. So much so that I'm really actually tempted to have the crooked tooth on the other site replaced too ... AIBU to consider that?!

Aww, I really feel for you. It's only been a few days though, and it will get better.

I managed for the first week and half eating soft foods and slimfast shakes! (I had all my top out and the rear at the bottom). It was a couple of weeks for me until it didn't hurt biting down on them. Take plenty of painkillers. If they are the front ones, can you cut food very small and eat on the back ones? I foudn chippy chips and fish very soft to eat and was a relief when I wanted a proper meal

I dont think leaving them out too much while you are healing is recommended. As your gums might heal differently and they won't fit. Unfortunately my lowers didn't fit well at all, so I couldn't wear them, and so it's now 3-4 weeks I think and they don't fit at all!

How do yours fit? Mine felt very tight at first, but as I healed they got looser. And once it starting moving, it caused more pain, I had to start using a little polygrip, on the sides, away from where the extraction sockets are. Once it was stable, it hurt a lot less. You will get sore spots, but as your gums heal and change, it will get better.

I know what you mean about the embarrassment, too. I've had to do my best to joke and laugh it off. After years of grotty teeth I now have a hollywood smile to rival Simon Cowell, so no hiding it for me!!
It is surprisingly common though, and people are sympathetic rather than judgemental.

Poor you. Hope you feel better soon.

McHappy, I'm sorry you're going through this right now, but I'm ever so grateful to you for starting this thread as I've learned a lot from these posters.

I have had an awful lot of trouble with my teeth over the last ten years (it coincides with periods of serious illness and I can't help but feel it is somehow related). I now have one fixed bridge and three sticky bridges to replace lost teeth. One sticky bridge was knocked out when I was having a general anaesthetic for a kidney op last year and has come unstuck again twice since (apparently once they become detached they never stick so firmly again) and now another one has come off. And I lost yet another tooth just the other week.

If it were just one or two teeth I'd go for implants, but there'd be five (and a couple of others are looking dodgy). I can see I may well have to have dentures and was absolutely dreading it (and feeling aggrieved - out of all my siblings I was the one who was neurotic about tooth-care!) However, reading these posts has caused me to be a little less depressed about it - you always feel better when others are in the same boat.