A great deal of skill has been used in making your new partial or complete dentures and it’s important that you start taking care of your dentures effectively in order to get the best service from them. Obviously nothing can be found to equal healthy natural teeth but dentistry has made great progress in replacing missing teeth with artificial dentures.
Wearing Your New Dentures
The teeth on your new dentures have been designed to be as near as possible to the exact position that your missing natural teeth occupied. Your new dentures will support your cheeks and lips and give you as natural appearance as possible.
You can however expect to undergo a period of awkwardness while getting used to wearing dentures. Very often your first reaction may be that you have suddenly acquired a tremendous mouthful and your lips are being pushed forward excessively by teeth that seem too big. This should not worry you because this feeling of fullness will soon wear off as you become accustomed to the new dentures in your mouth. It’s possible that you may think that your new dentures are too big and that other people will think so too. However this is not so and there is no need for embarrassment as your new dentures are designed to be as natural looking as possible.
Controlling Your New Dentures
You may get a feeling of gagging or excessive salivation with your new dentures but this should disappear after a short period of time. While you are learning to use your new dentures it is necessary to have patience. Controlling your dentures may be difficult at first but gradually it will become automatic.
Getting Accustomed to New Dentures
The time required to become accustomed to your new or immediate dentures may vary considerably from individual to individual; some people will master their dentures very quickly others may require weeks of patience. It will usually take between 4 – 8 weeks to become fully accustomed to your new dentures. Some of your friends may tell you how it easy it was for them to get accustomed; they could be bragging or they may have forgotten.
Dentures and Speech
Speaking while wearing your new dentures may seem strange or difficult at first. This is because your tongue has to learn where your new teeth are. A good idea is reading aloud to yourself for short periods during the first few days. It's also worth taking sips of water in between speaking, as your mouth will feel dry. There's no need to feel embarrassed about speaking while wearing you new dentures other people are much less aware of the awkwardness than you are. This is because your voice never sounds the same to other people as it does to you. When you hear yourself speak most of the sound reaches your ears by means of vibrations in the bones of the jaw and skull, this varies from the sound that travels through the air. So any small changes become much more noticeable to the speaker than anyone else.
