Adapting to Dentures
You have just got your dentures fitted. In this section we will help you ease the process of getting used to your new dentures.
Being able to eat the foods you love and speak more normally is a big part of living with dentures. The good news is that you can do it. By making a few little changes to your routine and with a little time and patience you’ll soon get used to them.
Once you have your dentures, there may be different concerns or worries about your first few days or weeks. Poligrip have asked denture wearers and dental professionals to share with us about first experiences.
Eileen, 57 from Sheffield thought her dentures looked too large‘It may sound silly, but when I first got them I was wary about taking them out in case I couldn’t get them back in, and when I looked in the mirror they seemed to look too large.’
Jane, who is 48 and from Watford, didn’t want to look in the mirror‘Once I got my dentures I made a point of not looking in the mirror. I don’t like taking them out, though obviously I do to clean them. Even at this stage I still felt the stigma which I guess was down to my relatively young age. Goes back to this thing about believing only old people have them, which I now know simply isn’t true.’
Beryl’s, 67 from Rotherham, worried about how people would react‘My biggest concern at this time was that people would know I was wearing dentures and to be honest I didn’t look at myself for three or four days.’
However, Betty, 67 from Ashford Common didn’t worry about people noticing them, but still had a mixed reaction at first,‘I didn’t like the way they felt at first, having something in your mouth that shouldn’t be there. But they matched my own teeth well, so whilst I noticed them, I’m pretty sure no one else did.’
Whereas some people were quite apprehensive, Maurice, 76 from London wasn’t.‘The first thing I did when I got them was check in the mirror and actually I was quite impressed with how they looked.’
And Tony, 65 from Stanmore was really happy with them‘For me, adapting to having dentures was not really a problem. I had them because I wanted nice teeth and when I looked in the mirror the first time I thought that’s exactly what I got. I wasn’t worried about people noticing because there was nothing to notice, nothing bad anyway.’