flexible partial detures anyone?

annie123

anyone got them?
I cant have implants without jaw bone grafting, which I don't want and cant afford so I will be having 2 teeth removed next Friday, one with a broken post in it! I grind my teeth sometimes.......
for those not sure flexi dentures are these:

http://www.mauricehood.co.uk/flexible.html

only had bridges before so have a few questions:

• whats it feel like to wear them? when I've had a bridge done feels odd for a few days then I have not noticed it, does the same happen with partial dentures?
• Does it affect your speech?
• I haven't been able to eat anything that needs biting as the start of the now broken bridge (stuck in with polygrip several times a day)includes a front tooth and takes in 4 teeth, how long till I could sink my teeth into a chip buttie:D

I'm only in my mid 40s and not looking forward to this at all.
My dentist has given me some guides but, as he said, he doesn't wear them so cant answer from personal experience.
any advice or tips gratefully received.

Toothsmith

Speaking and eating are the two big things to get used to with a new denture.

Speaking doesn't take very long at all - just a few hours. You may well think you're speaking a bit funny for a few days, but other people really won't be able to tell.

I often tell people it's a bit like when you hear yourself on a recording. You always sound different to how you think you sound. It's like that with a new denture - you feel it's making more of a difference than it actually is.

As for eating, that can be quite different. It may well be a couple of weeks before you're chomping away confidently on them. It's a bit of a knack, and I can't describe how to get it, other than make sure you keep them in, and don't be tempted to take them out to eat if you're on your own!

It's more to do with modifying how you eat to help the dentures stay in place, rather than expecting the denture to modify itself to the way you eat. That takes a bit of time to learn, but once you have, it will be easy.

Being younger, you'll be more adaptable than if you needed your first ever denture in your 70s.

I haven't worn a denture - but I had a brace as a kid, and the experiences are very similar. I'm sure you'll be fine with it.

annie123

thanks toothsmith, I feel less worried now.

I have changed how and what I eat because of the broken bridge so I guess I can do it again. wont try the crunchy salad stuff for a few weeks!

Just hope I can get used to having something in my mouth all the time, hopefully I will not notice it after a while.

Toothsmith

That's how it will get.

Do leave it out at night though - mouths can get into a bit of a state if dentures are in 24/7.

annie123

:eek:

Toothsmith wrote: »

Do leave it out at night though - mouths can get into a bit of a state if dentures are in 24/7.

:eek:


there's no way my DH is seeing me with missing teeth, I need a solution to this potential problem. there must be something...........

suki1964

annie123 wrote: »

:eek: :eek:


there's no way my DH is seeing me with missing teeth, I need a solution to this potential problem. there must be something...........

Annie, I got my denture in my late 20s Im now 44

Like you cant have implants

Anways learning to talk is easy - a few days and you stop "lisping" Not that I think you do but you feel as if you are.

Eating is a NIGHTMARE. My denture is front and the amount of times it popped out when trying to eat anything you had to bite into wasn't funny. Got that for a while I wouldnt eat out and indoors Id take it out to eat. Mind that was a long time ago and dentures have improved and the one I have now is fine - never popped out and I do need to wriggle it to get it to come out when needed.

As for teeth out at night

You really should do because thrush happens if you dont. And oral thrush is horrible I never take mine out and last year I took the thrush and it took 2 months to clear and I was left with sores around my lips and cracks and scabs at the sides, felt constantly sick and lost a lot of weight, Not to mention how awfull I looked to other people

As my dentist says - hubby dont need to see. I just pop into the bathroom when any romance is over and the lights are off And Im always up first so he never does see - even though obviously he has seen me without them (if you are vomiting - remove them first)


You will get used to them really quick if they are a good fit. A bit tight is better then loose as your teeth will move and the plate will loosen with wear.

Dont forget to remove it to clean it and try clean the roof of your mouth as well

TomsMom

Toothsmith - can you comment on the flexible denture please, as good as or not so good as acrylic, will it last as long, any problems with them, can they loosen like an acrylic one does eventually, does it lose suction (top denture) as an older acrylic one sometimes does, etc? If you were to need a denture, would it be acrylic or flexible?

I am a long term partial denture wearer (2 teeth - one front and the next one to it) and although I am comfortable with my acrylic denture the idea of the flexible denture is interesting.

And can any private dentist supply them and the approximate cost?

annie123

thank you so much suki for sharing your experience with me. The closer it gets the more worried I get.
Must have been really tough in your 20's to get them.

My hubby has tried to be reassuring as possible having seen me at my worse over the years. I like the 'pop into the bathroom later' bit;) will try that and like you I am up first. Don't like the sound of oral thrush.

My dentist said to have this one in for 6 months to allow the gum to shrink after the 2 roots are extracted, then get another one done and keep this one as a spare 'just in case'

I don't eat out at the moment in case my bridge falls out:eek: and even at home I'm on bit size pieces only and soft food.....its so boring.
I am a veggie and long to eat a stick of celery again but what I want first is a chip buttie:D not healthy but very very tasty.

I am planing to keep to my current diet for the first few days and slowly add things working up to crunchy things last. Hopefully by Xmas.

Your experience has made me feel so much better about it.
A big thank you:grouphug:

suki1964

Glad to have been able to help.

Its just something that people dont really talk about and the unknown is always worse then the reality.

Crunchy foods arent the worse to get used to tbh, I found bread the worse. I guess cos its "sticky". I never forget trying an iced bun, took a bite - pulled away and there was my denture stick to the top where the cherry should have been )

And dont forget my horror stories of eating are prolly cos my denture is top front - the biting tearing teeth (cant do selloptape or packets). Side and back teeth will have different settling in problems

Toothsmith

TomsMom wrote: »

Toothsmith - can you comment on the flexible denture please, as good as or not so good as acrylic, will it last as long, any problems with them, can they loosen like an acrylic one does eventually, does it lose suction (top denture) as an older acrylic one sometimes does, etc? If you were to need a denture, would it be acrylic or flexible?

I am a long term partial denture wearer (2 teeth - one front and the next one to it) and although I am comfortable with my acrylic denture the idea of the flexible denture is interesting.

And can any private dentist supply them and the approximate cost?

I have no personal experience of these types of denture.

They are quite new, and I've not seen enough about them to be confident to offer them to my patients yet.

They are expensive, but I've not looked into how much I'd have to charge for them yet.

New dental materials come and go all the time. They are often trumpeted in either the dental press, or worse - the Daily Mail - as 'the next big thing' and you can sometimes look a bit of a dinosaur if you don't 'do' it.

Flexible plastics are flexible because they have some chemical or other in them that stops them going hard. These plasticisers do leech out of the material over time, and so the material becomes less flexible. Also, as a rule, these materials are more pourous than hard materials, which tends to mean they stain quicker as well. You may well have to be very careful about what you use to clean it as well.

Now - as I said - I have no experience of Valoplast dentures or the like. Although it feels like I only qualified yesterday, in fact I've been around for long enough now to see all sorts of gadgets, machines and materials come and go. Some I've bought, and wished I hadn't, some have radically changed how I do my job.

Where flexible plastic dentures fit into this, I don't know yet. I SUSPECT it will be a one-night wonder, but I may be wrong!

TomsMom

Toothsmith wrote: »

Now - as I said - I have no experience of Valoplast dentures or the like. Although it feels like I only qualified yesterday, in fact I've been around for long enough now to see all sorts of gadgets, machines and materials come and go. Some I've bought, and wished I hadn't, some have radically changed how I do my job.

Where flexible plastic dentures fit into this, I don't know yet. I SUSPECT it will be a one-night wonder, but I may be wrong!

Thanks for that Toothsmith. When I'm next considering having a new partial denture (and I'm fine for the foreseeable future) perhaps I'll come back and ask you if you've any further info or indeed they were a one night wonder! Or perhaps Annie will be able to tell us her experiences by then if she goes ahead.

On another vein - gosh the Daily Mail does get a slating on MSE. I'm not loyal to any newspaper and don't buy them very often (except for our weekly local or the money or travel section in the nationals) but I always considered the DM a bit of a step up from The Scum and Mirror :rotfl: