How to get used to a removable denture

Terms of adaptation What influences the terms?
How to speed up addiction? Possible problems with the prosthesis Care The prosthesis is completed. Behind were casts and fittings. All you have to do is get used to your new jaw. It turns out it's not that simple. Any removable structure is perceived by the body as a foreign body. It takes time for him to begin to perceive the removable jaw as his own. How to get used to removable dentures?

The dentist must warn the patient about what kind of reaction there may be to the prosthesis:

increased salivation;
attacks of nausea;
urge to vomit;
tension in the cheeks and lips;
violation of diction;
difficulty chewing.

All attention is focused on the foreign body in the mouth. It is difficult to fight the urge to remove the prosthesis.

In some cases, atypical reactions to prosthetics are observed. You should immediately consult a doctor if:

there is redness and swelling in places of contact with the prosthesis;
wounds and ulcerations appeared on the gums;
painful to swallow;
burning sensation in the mouth.

Signs of an allergy to a denture

These could be signs of an allergic reaction

on materials of construction.

Dry mouth or increased salivation

A feeling of dryness or, on the contrary, increased salivation occurs due to the adaptation of the mucous membranes to a foreign body. If the design is made correctly, the discomfort quickly passes. If your mouth is dry, you should drink water more often and rinse, but do not use alcohol solutions. It is worth limiting the consumption of tea, coffee, and at least temporarily giving up smoking. You need to get rid of dryness quickly, otherwise your gums will be injured.

Excessive salivation is a reaction to a foreign body in the mouth, to constant contact with the mucous membrane. It goes away on its own in a few days. You can simplify the adaptation process for the mucous membrane by rinsing with decoctions of chamomile, oak bark or sage, or solutions recommended by your doctor.

How long does it take to get used to dentures?

Dentists distinguish 3 phases of adaptation:

The first phase is irritation
. And although doctors mean irritation of nerve receptors, the name of the phase perfectly conveys the patient’s condition. Irritation and the desire to pull out a foreign object are the 2 main feelings of the first day. A psychological attitude and any, preferably enjoyable, activity helps to overcome them.
The second phase is partial braking
.
Then comes the reward for patience and perseverance. Restoration still interferes, but not as much. Salivation decreases, nausea goes away. Cheeks and lips are less tense. Chewing function is restored. This phase takes about 5 days
.
The third phase is complete braking
. Diction is normalized, chewing no longer causes discomfort, and there is no sensation of a foreign body. The patient experiences discomfort when the jaw is not in place. Adaptation is complete.

On average, getting used to dentures takes 10-30 days.

Problems with diction

After prosthetics, there is less space in the mouth, which is why the patient may have problems with diction at first: the tongue does not have enough free space, sounds are distorted. To cope with this faster, you will need training. To do this, you can read aloud, pronounce individual complex sounds, and do tongue exercises. The more actively the tongue “works” immediately after prosthetics, the faster the adaptation will take place and normal diction will be restored. When getting used to speaking correctly, you need to make sure that when pronouncing sounds, saliva does not fly from your mouth. A good workout would be tongue twisters that are spoken slowly, making sure that the pronunciation and articulation are correct.

Rubbing gums

Removable plate prosthesis can rub soft tissues. Usually it takes a couple of days to adapt, after which the patient stops reacting to a foreign object in the mouth. Typically, discomfort is felt if the tissues are too delicate or the prosthesis is not fitted correctly. You can alleviate the condition by using the measures recommended for pain. You should also exclude fried, sticky and sweet foods, such as condensed milk or creams, from your diet. After each meal, your mouth should be rinsed. Doctors recommend monitoring the condition of the gums; if bruises or other damage appear, you should immediately consult a doctor. You can reduce the pressure on the tissue using special tabs. They are worn for the first time after prosthetics; later they are no longer needed.

Eating

Chewing skills with a newly installed denture need to be developed gradually. This does not mean that you need to switch to broths, purees and cereals. On the contrary, you need training with a gradual increase in load. The hardness of the products is increased gradually. It is better to start eating vegetables and fruits in small pieces, chewing them thoroughly. They get used to biting food in the same way - gradually, starting with softer foods and moving on to hard foods. You need to chew and bite carefully: it is important not to damage or injure the gums, and to control the load on it.

After installing a removable denture, the patient may feel that food is deprived of its usual taste, it has become less pronounced. This occurs because the base of the structure covers the palate where the tactile receptors are located. This does not affect the perception of taste in any way - taste buds are located on the tongue. The feeling that the taste of food has changed is associated with a foreign body in the mouth and quickly passes as you get used to it.

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Injuries

In the first days after installation, injured areas may appear on the surface of the gums: small wounds, abrasions, etc. They may appear due to improper chewing technique or sensitivity of the mucous membrane. Normally, the denture stops rubbing the gums within a few days. You can speed up this process by rinsing with antiseptic solutions and chamomile decoction.

If injuries do not go away over time, become more pronounced, or cause increasing discomfort, you should consult a doctor. The problem may lie in the design itself. The doctor will conduct an examination and correct the prosthesis. Usually one correction is enough for the discomfort to go away.

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Doctor #dentistorthopedist Oleg Ivanovich Samokhlib: ⠀ Removable plate dentures are structures designed to restore chewing function.

They are a medicinal product, so you need to know how to use them correctly. ⠀ During the first few days, dentures may cause some inconvenience, which are associated with the period of adaptation of the patient to the new design in the oral cavity (pain, speech impairment, increased salivation, nausea, decreased taste and other unpleasant sensations), which soon pass. Typically, complete adaptation to removable laminar dentures occurs within 1-2 months. The process of getting used to the prosthesis requires patience and perseverance from the patient. ⠀ If you cannot get used to the prosthesis, you feel pain and discomfort for a long time, you need to see a doctor who will correct the prosthesis. It is prohibited to correct the prosthesis on your own! ⠀ Three to four hours before going to the doctor, put on a prosthesis - this will help determine the cause of discomfort and pain. The doctor can correct the removable denture several times until the pain completely disappears. In the first days and even weeks, the prosthesis feels like a foreign body and there is a desire to remove it. But subsequently this feeling disappears, and the patient stops noticing it, i.e. addiction sets in. For some it comes quickly in a matter of days, for others it lasts for months ⠀

Briefly about removable plate dentures.

Removable plate dentures are structures designed to restore chewing function. In the past, such structures were made exclusively from acrylic hard plastics; modern dentures can be made from softer materials - Acry Free, nylon, which make them more comfortable to use. Dentures can be partial or complete, depending on the number of teeth in the mouth.

Plate dentures consist of a base and artificial teeth. A removable partial denture has hook-clasps, with which it holds onto the supporting teeth. Complete removable dentures are held on the gums due to the suction effect.

A denture is a therapeutic device, so you need to know how to use it correctly. During the first few days, dentures may cause some inconvenience, which is associated with the period of adaptation of the patient to the new design in the oral cavity (pain, speech impairment, increased salivation, nausea, decreased taste and other unpleasant sensations), which soon disappear. Typically, complete adaptation to removable laminar dentures occurs within 1-2 months. The process of getting used to the prosthesis requires patience and perseverance from the patient.

If you cannot get used to the prosthesis, or feel pain and discomfort for a long time, you need to consult a doctor who will correct the prosthesis. It is prohibited to correct the prosthesis on your own! Three to four hours before going to the doctor, put on the prosthesis - this will help determine the cause of the discomfort and pain. The doctor can correct the removable denture several times until the pain completely disappears. In the first days and even weeks, the prosthesis feels like a foreign body and there is a desire to remove it. But subsequently this feeling disappears, and the patient stops noticing it, i.e. addiction sets in. For some it comes quickly in a matter of days, for others it lasts for months. Adaptation occurs more slowly when complete removable dentures are applied, especially to the lower jaw.

Habituation is facilitated by sucking on lollipops, drinking hot tea with lemon, and distracting activities such as reading aloud. To reduce the time of adaptation to the prosthesis, they need to be used around the clock, removed only for hygienic treatment. As soon as the patient notices that he forgets about the existence of the prosthesis and, on the contrary, feels awkward in his mouth when removing it, we can assume that the addiction is over. After this, the prosthesis must be removed during sleep.

With a prosthesis, you can eat all types of the most common food (bread, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits...), but it is not recommended to chew nuts, crackers and other solid foods. In the first days after application of the denture, the patient must learn to chew with the denture, starting with softer foods. It should be taken in small portions, chewing thoroughly. In the future, after getting used to the dentures, chewing does not cause difficulties and is performed as usual.

Oral hygiene for people using dentures is as follows. After getting used to it, removable dentures must be removed at night to give the mucous membrane a chance to rest from the removable denture. You can use dentures while sleeping only with the permission of your dentist, if the need arises. The prosthesis requires daily care. Removable dentures are cleaned in the same way as natural teeth, with a toothbrush with toothpaste or soap, and then rinsed in running water. Dentures should be stored clean in a closed box. At intervals of approximately 1-2 times a week, it is recommended to treat the denture with special means - as a rule, they are sold in the form of effervescent tablets and contain components (proteolytic enzymes, antiseptics) that dissolve plaque and disinfect the denture. An alternative to using effervescent tablets for cleaning dentures is the use of an ultrasonic bath - with its help it is possible to clean the denture almost perfectly (plaque, odor are removed, bacteria are destroyed);

Approximately once every 6-12 months, professional cleaning of the denture by a dentist is recommended.

Most types of dentures should be stored in a damp environment, as the product may become deformed when drying. For storage, you can use plain water, or special solutions for storing dentures, which are sold in pharmacies (this is the preferred option). When soaking the denture, make sure that it is completely covered with the solution (or water). Do not place the prosthesis in hot water, as this may cause it to deform.

In the case of using a partial removable denture, one should not forget about careful hygiene of the teeth remaining in the oral cavity.

The anatomical conditions in the oral cavity do not always allow for the creation of good fixation for removable dentures. This is especially true for prosthetics for the complete absence of teeth in the lower jaw. Under unfavorable conditions, special fixing agents in the form of creams, fixing pads, and powders are used to keep it in the mouth. They are sold under the brands “President”, “Corega”, “Protefix” in any pharmacy. During the use of removable dentures, a fracture of the prosthesis or its individual parts (tooth, clasp) may occur. In this case, you need to consult a dentist. If the tooth(s) that hold or support partial removable dentures are lost, it is possible to weld an artificial tooth to the denture in place of the lost one. Repairing a prosthesis usually takes 2-3 days. Repairs are made without warranty.

If cracks, fractures, etc. appear, do not torture

You can fix the prosthesis yourself, even if it is urgent. Only specialists can repair the prosthesis. If cracks or breakage of the prosthesis appear, you cannot use it, as it can damage the mucous membrane of the oral cavity. After repeated repairs, the prosthesis becomes deformed and must be replaced with a new one.

Once a year, if necessary, it is necessary to reline the base of the removable denture. After three to five years of using a removable denture, regardless of its quality, it is necessary to consult a doctor to decide on the time of re-prosthetics.

Imaginary well-being is often deceptive and can be observed when the prosthesis has become unusable and causes harm. Only a doctor can decide this after examining the patient and the prosthesis. Remember that removable dentures will help you restore the aesthetic qualities of your teeth, as well as chewing food. Consider this structure as an integral part of your body. Use them and regularly care for your dentures, following the recommendations above.

Are there alternatives to removable plate dentures?

Yes, implantation. This is a modern and reliable method of treatment, which will either completely eliminate removable structures or significantly improve their fixation in the oral cavity.

And one of the latest reviews about Oleg Ivanovich’s work can be found below!

Allergic reaction

It occurs very rarely, since all structural elements are made of hypoallergenic, biocompatible materials. It manifests itself as redness of the gums at the contact site; this area may itch and possibly burn. The unpleasant sensations do not go away and do not weaken, they can intensify, the gums look injured.

Allergy is a rejection of construction materials, which may be accompanied by nausea, malaise, and dizziness. It appears almost immediately after installation, disappears after some time if you remove it. There is no point in waiting for adaptation in case of allergies - the reaction will only intensify over time. To solve the problem, you need to find out which material in the structure you are allergic to and make a new prosthesis without using it.

Psychological aspect

Often the use of a prosthesis provokes psychological discomfort in the patient: it frightens him, it seems to him that complications have already arisen, and adaptation is not going well. To prevent such a problem from arising, you need the right attitude: a person must be prepared for the difficulties that may arise in the first days. It is important to take your time and understand that the body needs to get used to new conditions. The period of complete adaptation takes up to one and a half months on average, but the most noticeable discomfort disappears after 1-2 weeks if you wear the prosthesis constantly.

To get used to a removable denture faster, orthodontists at the Dentospas clinic recommend massaging the gums. You can do it yourself, it will improve blood circulation and tissue nutrition, and improve the condition of the gums. Massage is done provided that the surface of the mucous membrane is not injured and there are no open wounds on it. At first, to speed up adaptation, you can leave the prosthesis on at night (install it again after cleaning). This is safe (the gums and tongue hardly move during sleep) and allows you to increase the time of contact of the mucous membrane with the base of the structure.

Useful tips for those who have recently installed a prosthesis

Literally from the first days of using a prosthesis, many patients complain of pain, as well as abrasions and scratches in the oral cavity. In fact, mechanical damage should not occur, since this point was thought out at the product design stage. Perhaps you are simply wearing it incorrectly. If the problem does not resolve itself, you need to contact your dentist for further adjustments to the prosthesis.

The tips given below will not completely relieve you of difficulties during the adaptation period, but they will significantly reduce the level of negative impact and will help you get used to the prosthesis faster.

The process of chewing food causes pain, so in the first few weeks it is better to protect yourself from eating solid and tough foods: meat, nuts, cookies, etc. If even soft food is painful to chew, then at first you can cut it into small pieces. Trust your feelings, and when the pain begins to subside, gradually move on to your usual, normal diet.

Under no circumstances should you reduce the number of meals. Most patients, due to a strong fear of getting damage to the oral cavity (and they take a very long time to heal), switch to liquid foods and yoghurts. But this is not the right solution, since in order to get used to the prosthesis, a constant chewing load is needed.

Foods such as pears, apples and citrus fruits should be cut into small pieces and chewed slowly, with great effort. This allows you to reduce the degree of damage to the mucous membrane, and also gives the body all the necessary vitamins.

If you have a dry mouth or increased salivation, it is recommended to drink plenty of liquid in small sips throughout the day.

If you feel slight numbness, you can do a light massage of the gums, this will improve blood circulation and the numbness will go away in just a few minutes. In this case, you need to remove the prosthesis.

Decoctions of herbs such as sage and chamomile will help strengthen your gums and prevent irritation. It is advisable to carry out the procedure three times a day. The decoction should never be hot; liquid at room temperature is the best option.