5 Tips for Adjusting to Life with Dentures

When your teeth are gone, what do you do? Dentures have long been the standard option for many patients. With the right set of dentures, you can smile, eat, and talk with confidence once again.

At Bayside Dental Arts, Andrey Ilyabayev, DDS, provides comprehensive dental care, including dentures, to keep you smiling your whole life through.

Types of dentures 

There are two types of dentures — partial and full. Partial dentures consist of restorations for several teeth, while full dentures replace an entire arch. 

Partial dentures can be attached to adjacent teeth or supported by a dental implant. Full dentures can be held to the gums with adhesive or supported by multiple dental implants.

We complete a thorough examination of your mouth and any remaining teeth and help you decide which denture option is right for you.

Adjusting to life with dentures

Wearing any type of denture means you’ll go through an adjustment period. Here’s how to make the transition easier.

Eating with dentures

Your gums will be sore right after you get dentures, so you may want to eat soft foods for a few days. Follow these guidelines as you ease back into your normal eating habits:

• Check the temperature of what you are eating before biting into it
• Avoid biting with your front teeth directly
• Practice chewing on each side of your mouth to equalize pressure and wear
• Avoid hard or sticky foods

If you’re unsure about a food, try it out at home before risking it at the company picnic. But it’s quite possible that you’ll be able to eat everything you used to enjoy before you had dentures.

Speaking with dentures

Speaking with dentures can also pose challenges. You may find some words hard to pronounce, or you may have difficulty forming certain sounds. 

A good tip is to bite down before you speak, to ensure your dentures are solidly attached to your gums and won’t slide around as you attempt to clearly enunciate the chosen words. Practicing in private in front of a mirror can help.

Denture hygiene

If you have removable dentures, take them out nightly, clean them, and store them in fresh solution in a safe container. If you have permanent dentures, clean them daily according to your dentist’s recommendations. Usually, you can brush them just as you did your original teeth. 

Gum care

Removable dentures mean that the bone beneath your gums is subject to deterioration, and this is even more likely if your gums aren’t healthy. Brush and floss well around any remaining live teeth, and see us regularly so we can check your gum health when you’re wearing dentures. 

Gum care is also crucial for dental implant health. Gum disease can cause dental implant rejection and the failure of your supported implants.

Denture fittings

Not all dentures fit perfectly after the initial installation. If you are not happy after your adjustment period, we can reline or otherwise adjust your dentures until you feel comfortable. 

Dentures also have to be revised during their lifespan to fit your mouth as it changes due to bone loss and aging. If your dentures start to rub and you develop a sore spot on your gums or the inside of your lip or cheek, call us promptly. We will refit your dentures to ensure you’re comfortable. 

Be patient with yourself and your dentures. It might take a couple of weeks to feel perfectly at ease, but dentures can have a positive impact on your life. We’re here to support you every step of the way.

Are you ready for dentures? To schedule a visit at our office in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens, New York, call 315-908-0804 or request an appointment online.