Partial Denture Misery

If you get no joy this week I would guess that a second opinion might be worth seeking. I did this with my DD with great success.

Sorry this is making you miserable - I am sure it would do the same to me!

The only thing you can do is persevere. I have a plate with three teeth, and for the first week it does indeed feel as though you are trying to put a Lego brick in your mouth, but your gum soon adapts to accept the plate, and then you won’t notice it at all.

I did find going private with my usual dentist meant my dentures fitted much better although the NHS ones weren’t that bad a fit they just looked very false. Since having them made privately they fit better and look much more natural. Speak to your dentist and ask what he thinks, a partial shouldn’t be that expensive but so worth it in my opinion.
Good luck

I had a bridge. It was expensive but worth it. Good luck with the problem.

I have a partial top denture. I was very reluctant to have it, but the dentist assured me that if he crowned the tooth, the crowns wouldn't last at the front & they would be very costly to keep replacing them. When he put it in, it felt massive and uncomfortable, I really felt I couldn't live the rest of my life with it in my mouth, I thought I was lisping (DH said not), found it hard to eat, terrified of taking it out!
Had it for 4 years now, it is fine, hardly know it's there.
It will take a couple of weeks to get used to them. They shouldn't wobble & shouldn't be painful. My dental receptionist said if they irritated I would need to go back & have them adjusted.
I paid privately for mine & they have been an excellent fit.
When you next see the dentist, maybe ask him to talk through how you get them in out, could you put them in & out a few times in front of him to ensure that you can do it?
If you are not happy after the next appointment I would get a second opinion as a previous poster has suggested.
Good luck!

Hi Chrissy, have you thought of having implants as the missing teeth are in such a prominent place. Expensive, I know but the best money you will spend, if finances permit.
Otherwise, I would definitely find a Dental Technician in your area, try to find a small, independent one, not the likes of "The Smile Centre" and places like that.
My Df had dentures made by his Dentist and looked like Mr Ed
they fitted so badly. He had them remade privately and they looked like his own. They were surprisingly, not too expensive.
Hope this helps but you need to do something as it seems to be affecting your life quite badly.

I’m going through the implant route at the moment. The dentist put the metal implants in immediately after removing the teeth.
If you do decide on this option then it’s probably best to make the decision quickly.

I was going to suggest implants - expensive but could be worth it.
I don't think I could bear the thought of putting a denture in my mouth, just as I can't bear the thought of wearing contact lenses.

I'd like to thank everyone for their replies and good wishes. Sadly, I don't have the option of implants because of the advanced gum disease! (Even if I could afford it - I think I would make myself afford it if it was an option.)

I am going to speak to the dentist on Tuesday about whether private dentures are any different. (I was told that I couldn't have flexible ones until six months has passed.)

Like many people, I have a real fear of dentists anyway. On my first appointment I sat and cried through the whole thing (which was basically just a discussion and some x-rays) - then felt totally ashamed for acting in that way.

Dentures seems as though it's a real taboo subject - as though it's the most intimate of things! I suppose in many ways, it is.

Please be careful with private dentists. I went to one who promised wonderful things. I have had full dentures since I was 11 and have always been self conscious about them. I thought I would treat myself last year and go to a private one. Their website promised wonderful things, with testimonials from lots of happy people with wonderful smiles. It cost me a fortune and despite going back several times with problems, I have never been able to wear the bottom ones and they cost me a FORTUNE.

I have a substantial partial upper denture made on the NHS. It is fine and I am happy. Had to go back to the dentist for a minor adjustment, there was a little wobble. While waiting on the appointment to see him I used Gripfix to secure the wobble which did a great job..

I do wonder about having the work done privately. What is the difference! Surely it is down to the ability of the lab technician to work from the moulds provided by the dentist.. When it is private do the technicians spend more time on the finish??

Anyways, a denture from the NHS should fit and be comfortable. I'd keep going back until it was comfortable. If it needs to be redone then so be it. But I wouldn't want to be paying a second dentist/technician for another denture.

If it wasn't done properly the first time then they need to start over again. And perhaps your dentist should reconsider the technician he uses.
NAH shouldn't mean second rrate.

Mine cost £270 for the substantial partial upper denture and included a large molar filling and a crown.

Chrissy sorry - I didn't realise, so ignore my post! DH is fine with his.

Chrissy, ask your dentist about a bridge. I think lower implants are difficult if bone has been lost, but I've had a bridge actually glued to teeth either side of a gap centre bottom stage . It's been there for 40 years!! ( fingers crossed as I couldn't get on with denture either)

I have a full upper denture, supplied privately, which looks really natural. The dentist told me to tell everyone I'd had implants as it sounds so much more impressive! Bottom dentures are apparently a lot more difficult and I'm putting off the dreaded day when I have to do something about my bottom teeth. Real implants are not an option due to gum disease. I do have friends who have had a small lower denture for a couple of teeth and they seem to cope OK

No help at all but this made me think of my DD who had full dentures fitted from before I was born. He had the same set for over 40 yrs !!
He never wore them at home, not even to eat. Much to mum's annoyance.

Your gums may still be a bit swollen from the gum disease and the extractions, which won't help. Give it a bit longer, and ask your dentist to teach you again how to put the plate in and out. They must deal with the problem all the time.

It may be that it wobbles because the impressions were not accurate. Dentists deal more with teeth in mouths than dental plates, and some of them are not all that good at taking impressions or making adjustments to the final product. Dental technicians do it all the time. The best fitting dentures I have had were made direct at a dental studio, and the yucky impression process wasn't nearly as horrible.

Shouldn't you tackle the gum disease first? It’s possible to overcome this. It’s mor ehours in the dentists/ hygenenist chair but surely they should have suggested this? I had bad gums but now have implants successfully, am addicted to flosssing and all those little brushes and have healthy gums. It was achieved via my excellent private dentist and many ££££.

You can have clips on the dentures which clip around the teeth next to the dentures, i had these when i first got partial dentures wgich stopped them wobbling, and i got used to them faily quickly,
I am having new full ones made at the moment,
I have very little gum now and the lower ones are always a problem
Try to persevere, im sure they will be fie once you get used to them

Going private, it is worth it? In my case certainly. My NHS dentist is extremely nice but seems to have the policy that he really should do as little as possible.
At first I was very happy with this attitude, quite a contrast with the dentists of my youth who drilled everything in sight.
Eventually I got fed up with the patching up he kept doing to my crowns. I never felt that I could use my front teeth and he certainly never came up with a solution.
So now I’m going to do a bit of both private and NHS.

Sorry, pressed too soon.
I was going to say, persevere a little longer but if the problem continues just go the a private dentist for a consultation. Sometimes it’s good to get a second opinion.

A denture should fit whether NHS or private. The dentist has the same skill! The only difference should be the quality of the materials!

I wouldn't blame quality of materials for the dentures I have had in the past! Plastic is plastic, it is what is done with it that makes a difference.

First the impressions - whenever I have had these taken by a dentist (many times), they would overfill the mould, so that masses of the stuff squidged out at the edges. They would stand over me pressing the thing down, then test whether it was set too soon, so that the still-soft fill was squashed at the edges, blurring the shape. The experienced dental technician used only enough fill to make the mould, and was more accurate in when he removed it

When the dentures came back to be fitted, they always"had parts that rubbed, and often they wouldn't even go into place until they were sanded down. The technician's fitted first go.

After wearing them for a couple of days, I had sores and ulcers where they met flesh and aching teeth where the fit of plastic on tooth was too tight. Most of my dentists seemed bad at interpreting exactly where the sanding down needed to be applied - I found I was better using a bit of fine sandpaper myself on the spot that I knew was too high. My latest denture straight from a technician has not needed any trimming.

I may have been unlucky in my choice of dentist, but I can honestly say that only one of the dozen or so dentures fitted by dentists has been a good fit. ( I can't remember exactly how many I have had in fifty plus years ) That is why I bypassed them last time.

Could you not either ask the dentist or his nurse to supervise you putting in and removing the denture until you have got the hang of it?

DH has a partial plate and his dentist made quite sure he could manage it before letting him out of the dental chair!

Haven't tried it yet myself, but I do remember the trouble I had with my first pair of contact lenses. I discovered that I just had to sit down with a mirror and good lighting on my own, take one or two deep breaths then try to insert the lens. Hope the same exercise works with dentures.

I too would hate to go out in public without my front teeth.