I have to have dentures and I'm very upset about it

Deni1963 Could you have a bridge instead of a denture?

My mother told me that some women had their teeth removed for a wedding present...no more expense once a family came along.

Hi. For 3 implants I've been quoted £6000. I have to give up smoking ( I know ?) and get the gums healthy. As I am probably going to need more dental work I am worried I can't afford implants.

How did she get that so cheaply??

I got my first plate yesterday. It's got three teeth on it, two on one side, one on the other, top. I hated it at first, it made me gag and I couldn't speak clearly. It's NHS as I can't afford private (thanks to con man). However, I persevered and by the end of the day it felt more comfortable, though I took it out to eat. This is the final challenge, and I hope to conquer it this evening.

My friend has just had 8implants. £6000 in Kings Lynn, she is delighted.

My teeth are going the same way, Nonnie. I already have a plate for the top set, with 5 artificial ones on it.
Why not start with just a plate forthe top set, until you get used to them?

Also, it is not necessary to soak a denture overnight. You can now get 3 minute Steradent tablets... cost about £1.25 for 20. Pop your denture into a glass with a tablet while you are in the bathroom.

As for accepting discomfort from a denture because it's NHS !!!! Nonsense. That's a dentist who is interested more in money that the patient.

My NHS denture is so comfortable I forget I'm wearing it.

A considerate dentist and a good dental technician = good denture.

Deni you do not have to take your dentures out each night!

Between you, me and the gatepost (!) I only have 5 bottom teeth and the rest are dentures. I was born with the NHS in July 1948. My mother worked as a dentist's receptionist after leaving the armed forces in 1945 and had ALL her teeth out when/just after she was pregnant with me. Throughout my childhood I had regular checkups which always resulted in fillings or (unnecessary?) extractions. My teeth have always been poor and, in more recent years, I begged dentists to remove them - however they were more interested in remedial work

Eventually I found a very nice dentist who agreed with me. I took him a photo showing my upper teeth at their best and he replicated them. My remaining teeth are middle bottom and I use a small amount of fixative daily on the bottom denture only (which dissolves/disappears over 24 hours) and I'm happy with the lot for the first time in decades! I soak them in (Steradent) while in the shower and use ordinary toothpaste to brush them in situ at other times. Stop Worrying

Deni, could you perhaps afford to splash out on three implants.....expensive I know, but it may be a solution.
If you are concerned about DH's attitude, what are you feeling?
You would never need to take out your implants to clean them overnight!

I know this post is over a year old but really need some support - and can't find the correct forum!
I'm about to lose 3 front upper crowns and have a partial denture. I'm terrified and have no idea how to cope with such a change on top of having to worry if I will look natural, if they will fall out and the impact on any relationships I have ? I'm married and have a feeling my husband isn't looking forward to me having false teeth.
I've taken a week off work to prepare. Do I really really hAve to take them out at night??
Any advice would be so appreciated - I don't know where else to turn.

I am so pleased that you are happy with them. I am very scared of dentists and know that this would be an ordeal for me, so am very sympathetic to anyone going through dental issues. I hope your first meal goes ok .

Well, I am now the owner of new teeth. I have a plate with three (two on one side and one on the other) at the bottom and four on each side at the top.

They were put into place about an hour ago. I am not lisping but I do feel as if my mouth is full.

I came home intending to have a toasted hot cross bun and cup of coffee. I don't feel confident enough to eat so it's just a coffee for the moment.

I have looked in the mirror and smiled. They do not look bad at all. You can't tell they are falsies and that was my main worry.

I have to say I am frightened to eat, but hunger will get the better of me I'm sure {smile}

I had six teeth removed three and a half years ago and I've never had a moments comfort with the dentures. To the extent that I was referred to the Orthodontics dept. at my local hospital after three years of dentures that made it impossible to eat fruit, veg meat etc. I have dentures now that have taken many months to create owing, apparently to my bony protusions in my gum. The dentist who extracted my teeth commented variously on my unhappiness with the dentures she provided as" it's the aging process I would have to get used to it" this was her response to an ill fitting denture that either moved or fell out regularly. I had asked for a little space in the new denture to make it look more like my natural teeth and I was told that I couldn't expect the same attention to detail that I would get as a private patient! (I was an N.H.S patient in a generally private practise) The dentures that I now have from the hospital
are more efficient and don't look too bad, but they are very rigid and there is an awful lot of metal in the lower denture, they look like instruments of mediaeval torture! The lower one rubs my gum sore and ulcerated if I leave it in too long.
The gist of my post is - has anyone who has paid privately been provided with softer dentures? Is the cost massive? Any help or advice received with massive gratitude.

A few months ago my front capped tooth just snapped off, so off I went to the dentist. I was advised to have a partial top denture which I agreed to. I was told the cost would be approx. $700 Australian dollars, and a further $340 for realigning the plate after 3 months because the gums would have shrunk after the extraction. Impressions were taken, and the bit of tooth that was left taken out. Next day I went back for the denture to be fitted, but unfortunately, it didn't fit properly. The dentist tried her best to make the denture fit, but eventually gave up and decided to take more impressions, and I was told to come back the next day......which I did, but again the denture did not fit properly. To cut a long story short, this happened 5 times over the next couple of months, and eventually I just lost patience with them and said I wasn't coming back again, and would just make the best of a bad job with the latest denture, but I was completely gob smacked when she told me that I would still have to pay the $340 for the realignment of the denture. I told her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't getting another cent off me because in actual fact, a realignment hadn't been necessary because by the time the last impression had been taken, my gums had shrunk back to normal anyway. Cheeky beggar!

Always regretted having dentures in early twenties I am sure my teeth could have been saved. I often wonder if the dentist got extra money for taking them all out in the early seventies. I was too ignorant to ask questions about other possible treatments. I would say never go national health I can spot them a mile away. Go private and dont accept any end result until you are really happy with them. Generally I go back for small adjustments 2 or 3 times until they are really comfortable and not rubbing.

I went for the fitting yesterday (Friday) and the dentist was pleased with them so they are being made for me and will be ready for me to collect next Friday.

I asked the dentist if they will be lightweight and not NHS 'choppers' (I'm going private for this) He seemed bemused by that. I suspect they are all the same anyway

I'll revisit the thread when I have worn them for a while. Strangely, after posting on here I didn't feel half as bad knowing others are in the same boat.

Thanks to all x

Nonnie1 I do understand why you are so upset, however -
My Sil has just had a complete top denture made. She paid extra to have them made to look like her own teeth and they look really good. Honestly if she hadn't told me about the denture, I would never have guessed. That made me feel a lot better when I recently had to have two teeth out near the front of my mouth due to infection, and now I just have to wait a few weeks for the false ones. Hate the waiting .....

Incidentally, I remember my Mum saying at 85 years old, that she wished she'd had all her teeth out when she was younger as they gave her so much trouble now she was older. She used to be so proud that she only had 6 false teeth.

Yes Coolgran, it is up to the Dentist or the Dental Technician to ensure that the dentures fit properly. I understood that it was standard practice to have them re-lined after a year or two when the gums have shrunk.

Although, I had the identical diet and tooth cleaning routine as my big sister, she still has all her own teeth whereas I have had full dentures since my early 30's because my teeth just crumbled away and bits broke off. I had all my wisdom teeth removed as they came in when I was a teenager because with big teeth in a small mouth there was no room for them. This was very traumatic for me as I have a serious dentist phobia (so much so that when I took DD aged about 5 for her 1st dental check-up, I ended up passed out on the corridor floor.). My teeth continued to crumble away particularly during 3 pregnancies and eventually I had all the top ones out and full denture in the same day - same for the bottom ones a couple of years later. Strict orders to keep them in 24/7 so that gums would shrink to fit. Both times I was back at work next day and never had any bother with them, except for eating soft lettuce which tends to stick firmly to the plate. Have not had a nightmare involving dentists since then either.

This was all done on the NHS. I believe the reason I got such good teeth was that the cast was taken, the dentures made and the fitting done by the dental practice's in-house dental technician, who also did the check-ups and eventual relining. He took great care and time to help me choose a creamy colour that would not attract attention and to fashion smaller teeth than my own so that I now have room for back teeth.

I have a quiet chuckle to myself when people tell me how lucky I am to have all my own teeth in good order at my age.

I have had dentures for many years now. It started with two teeth, and then over the years, another one or two and so on until now I have 1 crown, 4 implants, which help to retain the dentures. I am used to them now, and they are comfortable. I have used fixative successfully, but now the implants have removed the need for that. I do feel ashamed sometimes, that I didn't manage to keep my own teeth. However, to put it in perspective, I remind myself that my late cousin, who died at the age of 56, would have swapped her beautiful thick hair and lovely teeth for false teeth and thinning hair, like mine, to have had more years with her children and the grandchildren that she never saw. Unlike some, our bodies have survived, even though our teeth haven't. Take heart.

Am I naive, if a new denture isn't staying in place should it not be fixed/replaced by one that fits properly, at no extra cost. And if a denture later becomes loose can it not be relined to fit?

I had to have all my remaining teeth out (22) before I could have my knee replacement surgery. I had them all removed in January and finally got my dentures in August of the same year. They felt huge, but everyone said how good they looked, the top set that is. I couldn't get the lower set to stay put whatever I tried, so I went round with only top teeth. A year later, the top set also became very loose, and I had another set made, another £209, and the lower ones only stay in if I don't eat anything that needs chewing, like meat, or biting, like an apple, so it's not good news for me and i cannot afford to pay for another set on the off-chance that they might be a better fit.

My 7year old GD was doing a very bad job of cleaning her new front teeth until I told her that they had to last her for 100years so she ought to take better care of them. Well, its quite possibly true ........

Would you believe it, dentist has just rung to say my check up is due. Just as I was half way through the replies.

I have had dentures top and bottom for years due to a medical condition that gives me a dry mouth and rots my teeth. I have never really worn the bottom ones as I found them hard to get on with but the top ones I soon got use to them. It was all done under the NHS and they looked really good, in fact when we were away I was complimented on them. That said I decided
to go down the Inplant route for the top ones. I had the remaining 5 teeth removed and 4 inplants put in with things like poppers on. Then I had a denture made with poppers on and they just clipped on. Because I needed so many this was the best option and I can now eat lamb chops. Bottom 7 front ones are just bridges and crowns. By the way I never looked old with dentures. Good luck.
Does anyone else find that words they type get changed by the iPad?