Dentures can absolutely change people’s lives for the better. Many people who have good-fitting dentures are extremely happy with the decision to transition from a bad dental situation to replacing what remains of their teeth with dentures. The dentures help patients regains confidence in their appearance and even improves their desire and ability to eat. While some limitations do exists to living with dentures, dentures should be a great improvement to living with deteriorating teeth or no teeth.
However, dentures can only be life-changing if they fit properly. Many people may have heard of stories of ill-fitting dentures and feel like the only option is dental implants and hybrid dentures, which for many can seem unaffordable. This should not be the case at all. If dentures don’t fit well, patients should see their dentist to get the denture relined. Getting the denture to fit right is extremely important since ill-fitting dentures can cause a variety of problems including denture stomatitis (or thrush, as it’s commonly called). If the denture doesn’t fit even after being relined by your dentist it may be worth going to another dentist for a second opinion about your denture. A skilled dentist should be able to achieve a comfortable fit for almost all denture wearers.
While good-fitting dentures can be life changing, it’s worth mentioning their limitations:
- If patients are getting their dentures right after extraction of their remaining teeth, the dentures will not feel right in the first couple of weeks as the mouth heals.
- Dentures may need to be relined at least once before they feel right in the mouth. If you need more than one adjustment however, it might be worthwhile to get a second opinion about your dentures.
- You will not be able to eat really hard foods with acrylic dentures. Since the material is not as hard as some foods can be, these hard foods may cause the acrylic to crack.
- You will be unable to take big bites out of food, which is just as well, since smaller bites are better.
- You will be unable to eat foods that are too sticky since they will make the dentures come loose.
It’s due to these limitations and other preferences that some patients eventually do go for implant-supported dentures. This is especially true for the lower denture, since that has an easier time coming loose than the top one. As you can see, however, dentures without implants can get you a long way towards enjoying your life, even if they aren’t as good their implant-supported counterparts.
If you live in DC and have dentures that don’t fit well and are looking for a second opinion, or if you are looking for your first set of dentures, please contact our downtown DC dental office for a denture consultation with one of our dentists.