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

Nonniel,
I hope by now you have successfully had your dentures fitted and are happy with them. I have just had impressions taken for an upper denture and will get the first wax denture to try next week. I'm quite excited about it even though dentistry in general terrifies me! I still have a few of my own top teeth and the denture will 'clip' to them to help secure it. I also have a small front bridge which is loose and will later be removed and replacement teeth added to the denture. I'm sure it will take me a while to get used to the feel of a denture but at least I will be able to eat and chew again!

I may also need a smaller partial denture on the bottom, but my dentist will decide about that in due course. She is wonderfully supportive and sympathetic to my fears and does all she can to preserve as many natural teeth as possible. My teeth have been the bain of my life since I was a small child and I'm amazed they have lasted so long, so I try to think of dentures as just the next positive step in my dental health. I am looking forward to smiling confidently and eating comfortably for the first time in years.

Wishing you all the best.

Hi, new to this site and discovered it by looking for help on the same topic. So sorry for raising this again but feeling so like the lady who first opened this thread. Even though some of the posts are positive, I'm so unhappy and frightened about this. I am very phobic about dentists, so hadn't been for years, but was 'bullied' into going last week by my family. Have always been afraid I would be told I would have to lose my teeth, and surprise surprise, that was exactly last week's verdict. As soon as the dentist started taking moulds of my mouth, I knew where the conversation would be going. His verdict is the bone in my jaws won't support implants, and that I am going to lose them all. I have a friend who, like me, is an early riser and has to go home by 9.30 pm because her teeth have worked loose by early evening. Im so afraid I'm going to lose my active and late night social life if this is also my fate. I'm afraid I won't be able to speak or eat properly, that they'll look so awful I'll never be able to smile or laugh again. I ride a motorcycle, the love of my life, and so afraid that if I go over a bump in the road on her that I'll shake false teeth loose, and will have to give up riding her. After all, do tight leathers and granny teeth really go together??! Im also afraid of having to have a foreign contraption in my mouth, but also afraid of what my mouth will look and feel like if i have to take them out. So sorry to gripe, but you seem a nice group of ladies who will listen to others' problems.

Hi GrowingOldDisgracefully (love the name!), Welcome to GransNet. I may not be the best qualified person here to reply to you but here goes. I know just how you feel! I was so worried about my teeth looking 'false' and (heaven forbid) not fitting properly. I have had my new top denture for two weeks now and I have no problems at all with it. It fits like a glove, it actually clips invisibly to two of my remaining four teeth, and easy to fit or remove. There is no movement or wobble, no rubbing or soreness and eating is once again a pleasure. When I first got it, yes it felt very big and bulky and I couldn't stop exploring with my tongue. After a few days I forgot it was there. Eating was not a problem but I found I was speaking with a slight lisp. My dentist said that frequent practice would improve speech so I read aloud - newspapers, books, poetry, nursery rhymes, tongue twisters - anything to get used to saying the 's' 'sh' and 'th' sounds. At the moment my denture consists of just four back molars and in a few weeks four front teeth will be added to it to replace my front bridge which is loose. My dentist has asked to see photos of me with my natural teeth (before the bridge) so that she can make them as natural as possible for me. She has taken a lot of trouble to match the colour to my remaining teeth. I thought at first that they were not very white but I think brilliant white teeth might look a but unreal on someone my age. I too worried about having to remove my denture at night - what would my husband think ! - but we joke about it and he is just pleased that I have found the courage to seek treatment. I think the all important issue is getting the best fit possible that you feel comfortable and confident with, regardless of how many times the fit has to be adjusted till they get it right. Remind them that you are the one that has to wear it, not the technician or dentist. Please don't be afraid, far better for your overall health to have dentures than painful teeth. I don't know your age but I felt it was better for me to do this now (I'm 67) than wait until I'm in my eighties when it would be far more frightening. As for riding your bike, no they won't fall out when you go over a bump if they are a good fit, and a lovely gleaming smile of even teeth will look so young and sexy with leathers! Wishing you all the very best. Let us know how you get on.

Happysexegarian, I have just returned to my post and wanted to thank you so much for your very supportive response. As yet my return date for the dentist hasn't come round but now we're in April, it's getting uncomfortably close as my appt is in May and that's when I'll get the verdict in the extent of what needs to be done.

In the meantime I'm trying to put it to the back of my mind and enjoy foods which might be a problem later - I really love soft fruit with tiny pips such as raspberries (oooh my favourite), blackberries, strawberries.

I have also discovered that my younger sister, who has always been fanatical about looking after her teeth, has already got false teeth, albeit back ones and I wouldn't have known if she hadn't told me. I have a really loose front tooth though so I know from the last appt with the dentist that he's not confident of being able to bridge it with other front teeth as he says they're loose too (though they feel fine to me and I don't actually have any pain with teeth or gums. Though I have to admit those don't look too good!

I will look to your courageous outlook in your other post, and just try to face up to it - and keep my mouth firmly clamped shut when I'm on the mad, bad motorsickle ( as an American colleague describes it!).

BTW, my site name comes from my aunt's reaction (then in her 80's) when I got my 1st motorcycle at age 50 - she was highly delighted and exclaimed that I was growing old disgracefully! I am now on my 62nd year and my lovely aunt turned 90 recently and is still as rebellious and good fun as always.

For now I'm sitting in glorious sunshine outside my caravan near Honiton, have stuffed myself with ice cream, and about to get on with some lacemaking and stop my dental phobia ruining my calm!

Thank you again for your very kind support.

Hullo, KatyK, that must have been a dreadful, traumatic experience for you. Why did you need to have all your teeth out at such a young age? It must have been very difficult for you at school and with friends. Losing my teeth is something l have always dreaded. Well done on your positive attitude.

Dentures have come on leaps and bounds over the years. They are extremely sophisticated these days and, when worn properly, cannot be distinguished from natural teeth. Dentures may even improve the look of your smile.
(https://tsi.dental/about-us/)

Hello Musicgirl thank you for asking Yes it was horrendous. I was a neglected child. We never owned a toothbrush. My front teeth rotted and my mother took me to a horrible dentist who told her it was best if he took them all out. She let him. School and teenage years were very difficult. I hear people say they have nightmares about losing all their teeth. Well I lived that nightmare at 11. I know I'm not the only one. It felt particularly cruel when, ten years ago, I lost all my hair too. It's not been great but it's how it is.

Oh and Musicgirl you are the first person who has ever described me as positive. Most people around me thing I'm a misery, which I am, so thanks.

I can understand that you worry. If made good dentures are not bad and as with me I forget about them.
My story:
Both my father has dentures. My mother from being 20.
Me and my twin sister have had them from being 19. Mother has a generic deviation that my sister and I inherited. We were used to parents had dentures and mother told us that we were going to get dentures possible from 18.
Well 2 years ago we had our 32 teeth pulled and fitted with dentures. We asked mom to do it as she was dentist. We understood from her reaction that she would not like it. But as we were very hard on it she said yes with tears in her eyes.
We decided to start begin summer holiday.
She told us everything about the process and the first months discomforts and that could be difficult feelings to cope with.
Started with x-rays, moldings and measurements. Then a monday the eday for both. First sister then me. Fitted the dentures and talked with us. Said we would get a shock when first time see oneselves without teeth. That we should have dentures in 24/7 for the first week except for cleening. Then always look in the mirror to get used to the toothless looks when toothless and make faces and laugh getting used to the new us.
When in a relationship be open with having dentures and discuss what to do. It is very often that the partner accept that you take them out when intimate. It is very important not to hide it.
Well I am now a very happy denture wearer with a fiancy as also my sister, and now a happy mother.