Badly Fitting Dentures

boozercruiser

Hi.
I see that some of my helpers from a few years ago last time in respect of a Dental query are still here. I bet they don't remember me though!:)

I will try and keep a very long story short!
Unfortunately recently I have had to move into a denture situation in respect of 4 top teeth. No dentures on lower.
I had teeth taken out 6 months ago, and dentures made around 2 months ago at a cost of £195.00 (Wales). Right from the start of having the dentures in my mouth they felt ill fitting and slightly loose.

Trying to talk properly with them has been mission impossible, and trying to eat with them invariably had them moving.
After a month of this I went back to the dentist and part of what I had to say to him that the dentures to me were not fit for purpose.
I was asked to give them a longer try by the dentist as he felt that there wasn't anything really wrong with the dentures.
Yesterday I went back to the dentist who as it says on my Personal Dental Plan:

cam, HI, TBI, Reline Dentures, Periodontal Treatment .
Bold. I think on the form that is ticked as Relining rebasing and additions to dentures.

I was charged a further £45 for that, which to me was like throwing good money after bad.
Surely any adjustment needed to the dentures should have been made inside the original £195 charge?
I have to go back for a review in a weeks time.
I wish to say that I am not complaining about the Dentist in essence, as I do think he has done his best.

But.
As far as I am concerned right now after what I consider to be a fair try out, I am left with dentures I feel are still not right, and as things stand are only fit for the bin.
I have indicated to the dentist that it looks like I shall have to start the complaints process. Further I said to to the receptionist to convey to the Dentist I was only paying the £45 'under protest' as I wasn't expecting that.

Can someone please advise me why I should have to pay either for the dentures, or for further work on those dentures in order to try and correct obviously poorly fitting dentures in the first place?
Particularly as inside a month I said to the Dentist that I was unhappy with them, saying the were not fit for purpose.

Just to add.
I feel that I really have tried hard with these dentures, and keeping them in during the whole day, only removing them at bed time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kenny

brook2jack

Dentures are horrible things to wear. No matter how good they are they will move about . To wear dentures is like riding a bicycle , you lips, tongue and facial muscles need to learn to control them whilst eating,talking etc. Some people learn to wear dentures quickly, some people never adapt to dentures.

We are not designed to wear big pieces of plastic in our mouths and some people never manage to wear dentures successfully , that has nothing to do with how well the dentures are made.

Dentures are normally not fitted until a couple of months after teeth being removed as the bone shrinks and changes shape. However the bone can continue to change for 6 months or more afterwards. Reclines are always charged for as for some people the changes can continue for longer than this.

Some people find a denture fixative such as polygrip makes it easier to tolerate a denture.

comeandgo

I have had some top dentures for nearly 30 years, never had any problems. This is only the second set and when they were fitted were painfully tight but my lovely dentist suggested I give then another few weeks before she would do any adjustments. She was right, they don't move, affect my speech or anything I eat. Yours sound a nightmare but if you trust your dentist do as they suggest. If not find another one.

brook2jack

If you have had teeth removed due to gum disease , as I suspect OP has done, the gum and bone have shrunk down a lot already. If gum disease is affecting other teeth they may not offer support to the denture. It is often not possible to get tight dentures eg https://drlindaking.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/help-my-dentures-will-not-stay-in-my-mouth-and-i-cant-eat-with-them/

Many people really struggle to adapt to dentures , particularly when they have to start wearing them later in life.

sheramber

boozercruiser wrote: »

Hi.
I see that some of my helpers from a few years ago last time in respect of a Dental query are still here. I bet they don't remember me though!:)

I will try and keep a very long story short!
Unfortunately recently I have had to move into a denture situation in respect of 4 top teeth. No dentures on lower.
I had teeth taken out 6 months ago, and dentures made around 2 months ago at a cost of £195.00 (Wales). Right from the start of having the dentures in my mouth they felt ill fitting and slightly loose.

Trying to talk properly with them has been mission impossible, and trying to eat with them invariably had them moving.
After a month of this I went back to the dentist and part of what I had to say to him that the dentures to me were not fit for purpose.
I was asked to give them a longer try by the dentist as he felt that there wasn't anything really wrong with the dentures.
Yesterday I went back to the dentist who as it says on my Personal Dental Plan:

cam, HI, TBI, Reline Dentures, Periodontal Treatment .
Bold. I think on the form that is ticked as Relining rebasing and additions to dentures.

I was charged a further £45 for that, which to me was like throwing good money after bad.
Surely any adjustment needed to the dentures should have been made inside the original £195 charge?
I have to go back for a review in a weeks time.
I wish to say that I am not complaining about the Dentist in essence, as I do think he has done his best.

But.
As far as I am concerned right now after what I consider to be a fair try out, I am left with dentures I feel are still not right, and as things stand are only fit for the bin.
I have indicated to the dentist that it looks like I shall have to start the complaints process. Further I said to to the receptionist to convey to the Dentist I was only paying the £45 'under protest' as I wasn't expecting that.

Can someone please advise me why I should have to pay either for the dentures, or for further work on those dentures in order to try and correct obviously poorly fitting dentures in the first place?
Particularly as inside a month I said to the Dentist that I was unhappy with them, saying the were not fit for purpose.

Just to add.
I feel that I really have tried hard with these dentures, and keeping them in during the whole day, only removing them at bed time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kenny

Dental charges for NHS WALES

https://www.dentalhealth.org/news/new-nhs-dental-charges-announced-for-2018-19

Dizzy_Ditzy

Have you tried adhesive?

Toothsmith

Hello Boozecruiser!

Many if you hadn't made such a pain in the !!!!! of yourself 10 years ago about visiting a hygienist - but taken your dentist's advice and got on with cleaning your teeth properly - you would still be enjoying your own teeth now and not having to get on with a crappy bit of plastic that will never work like your own teeth did!

boozercruiser

brook2jack wrote: »

Dentures are horrible things to wear. No matter how good they are they will move about . To wear dentures is like riding a bicycle , you lips, tongue and facial muscles need to learn to control them whilst eating,talking etc. Some people learn to wear dentures quickly, some people never adapt to dentures.

We are not designed to wear big pieces of plastic in our mouths and some people never manage to wear dentures successfully , that has nothing to do with how well the dentures are made.

Dentures are normally not fitted until a couple of months after teeth being removed as the bone shrinks and changes shape. However the bone can continue to change for 6 months or more afterwards. Reclines are always charged for as for some people the changes can continue for longer than this.

Some people find a denture fixative such as polygrip makes it easier to tolerate a denture.

Thank you for your post brookjack, and of course I agree what you have to say there regarding those big pieces of plastic in the mouth.
My dentures were fitted 2 months following a couple of tooth extractions, and I am now around 6 months in.
I am objecting having to pay for a possible recline situation when it was obvious to me that the dentures were ill fitting from the first moment of fitting anyway.
The further £45 to me was only attempting to correct that.
At this moment in time I am not so sure.

boozercruiser

comeandgo wrote: »

I have had some top dentures for nearly 30 years, never had any problems. This is only the second set and when they were fitted were painfully tight but my lovely dentist suggested I give then another few weeks before she would do any adjustments. She was right, they don't move, affect my speech or anything I eat. Yours sound a nightmare but if you trust your dentist do as they suggest. If not find another one.

Thank you for your post comeandgo.
Like I already said, I think the dentist has done his best, and I am not really meaning to put him down.
Very nice person.
Gentle as possible.
Explained everything he was doing very well.
However.
To my mind somewhere between the Dentist and the Lab these have ended up not right in respect of fitting correctly.
Then adding insult to injury I have been charged £45 for the 'privilege' of any correction work.
I do in fact trust the Dentist, but I am going to have to beg to differ with him over charges.
Find another NHS Dentist in North Wales 'C''?
Have you tried looking for a needle in a haystack recently? :rotfl:

boozercruiser

brook2jack wrote: »

If you have had teeth removed due to gum disease , as I suspect OP has done, the gum and bone have shrunk down a lot already. If gum disease is affecting other teeth they may not offer support to the denture. It is often not possible to get tight dentures eg https://drlindaking.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/help-my-dentures-will-not-stay-in-my-mouth-and-i-cant-eat-with-them/

Many people really struggle to adapt to dentures , particularly when they have to start wearing them later in life.

Thank you for that information brook2jack.
And what you say in bold there is particularly relevant:D I guess.

boozercruiser

Toothsmith wrote: »

Hello Boozecruiser!

Many if you hadn't made such a pain in the !!!!! of yourself 10 years ago about visiting a hygienist - but taken your dentist's advice and got on with cleaning your teeth properly - you would still be enjoying your own teeth now and not having to get on with a crappy bit of plastic that will never work like your own teeth did!

I didn't think you were into taking rather cheap snide shots such as what you say there Toothsmith.
I really didn't.

Please get your facts right before you say any more mistruths. :mad:

Facts:

I have always taken very good care of my teeth.
I have always cleaned my teeth at least twice a day, not always I confess using dental floss, but most of the time.
I have always in my life visited my Dentist wherever I have lived at the usual periods of 6 to 12 months.
At appropriate times my Dentist (4 in my lifetime, and then due to house moves,) have always done a clean and polish following check up and any treatment required.

This used to be ALWAYS the standard practice.

As you well know, I started to object when only in the past few years, Dentists slowly but surely tried to shuttle people off to the Hygienist at much extra cost.
This has now become obviously a nice little earner for Dental practices of course.
I was not having any of that rip off, so insisted the Dentist abided by NHS guidelines to offer a clean and polish if required.

This did carry forward to all my appointments to date, as per when I raised this on an earlier thread.
But invariably most times I had to ask if cleaning and polishing was necessary.
Particularly if there was any signs of gum disease.
An honest Dentist Dentist would do this, particularly as it is already there in the various treatment payment categories.

You are quite correct though.
I have been given for a payment of total £240, and for the first time in my life, a crappy piece of plastic to stick in me gob!
The thing is.
In my experience.
This particular piece of crap is even worse than most crappy plastic dentures usually are due to, I really do not know what!

Cheers!:)