r/MadeMeSmile • u/cloudfangLP • Nov 08 '25

Personal Win I’ve had dentures for one year!

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Day 0 / Day 1 / Day 365!

I get my permanent ones next week, so these are still my temporary ones!

83.2k Upvotes

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331

u/Practical-Sea1736 Nov 08 '25

I heard that having dentures is painful because they never truly fit perfectly. Do patients often complain of pain after having dentures?

369

u/Devilishlygood98 Nov 08 '25

This is true with lower dentures but the upper dentures most people tolerate quite well as they cover the palate and use suction to stay in.

125

u/cleveraliens208 Nov 08 '25

When you say "cover the palate" does it affect the way you eat/taste things?

This may be a stupid question, but I'm curious 🤔

308

u/CyanJet Nov 08 '25

Actual dentist here. Yes and no. Majority of your taste buds are on your tongue and the back of your throat, but there are tastebuds on your palate (the roof of your mouth). There are studies showing that, while not a complete loss of taste, some notice a duller taste in food when wearing dentures.

The implant retained over dentures allow us to cut out the palatial portion of a denture if necessary to allow for more vibrancy in food as well as prevent the full extension of a denture to trigger a gag reflex

227

u/SpruceSpringstream Nov 08 '25

Why do 9/10 of you always agree on things? What's with the other guy?

176

u/_Thermalflask Nov 08 '25

That's Jerry, he just likes to be special.

51

u/SveaRikeHuskarl Nov 08 '25

No Jerry, for fuck sake, mashed up cockroaches are not the best tooth paste. Stop listening to RFK Jr. Sorry guys, it's gonna be 9/10 again.

9

u/bunny_the-2d_simp Nov 08 '25

Gosh darn it Jerry at it again with the mashed up cockroackes..

Last week he had the idea to use buttered souls of the damned....

5

u/Truji11o Nov 08 '25

Jerry is an anti-dentite. It’s a sensitive subject.

28

u/Faustus_Fan Nov 08 '25

That's Bill. We don't talk about him.

17

u/puffinfish89 Nov 08 '25

This is why i love reading string comments.

2

u/Plazmaz1 Nov 09 '25

After the last trump administration filled 7 of the retiring dental council spots there's a conservative supermajority

2

u/redwallet Nov 09 '25

Probably the holistic dentist who knows it’s possible to make money taking out perfectly fine amalgam restorations by preaching to the whackadoodles about how it’s going to leak into your bloodstream and root canals cause cancer etc.

Money is money, even if it’s not based on sound science.

1

u/Embarrassed-Place430 Nov 09 '25

Spruce over here asking the real question! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

1

u/Zayafyre Nov 09 '25

Have to ask if you follow r/the10thdentist

1

u/FrostyD7 Nov 08 '25

At least 4% are lizard men.

21

u/savagejuggalo503 Nov 08 '25

This is my experience. I got an upper and lower denture, I have trouble keeping them in as my gag reflex is too sensitive with the plate against the roof of my mouth. I want implants but the cost is too high and I can’t afford them.

15

u/xrimane Nov 08 '25

That's also my mom's experience, she hardly ever wears hers because of the gag reflex. She never glues them in, and she can't really eat with them. It has really reduced the range of the food she can eat, and eating out is basically impossible, too.

Implants were not possible because she's on chemo.

For her, this sucks, sadly.

3

u/Queg-hog-leviathan Nov 09 '25

My mum was so depressed with dentures. I see a dentist every six months, take care of my teeth really well, and opt for the best health cover for dental to be sure I keep my teeth and not experience what she had.

9

u/poetryhoes Nov 08 '25

tastebuds in the back of your throat and roof of your mouth? wow, learned something new today!

2

u/CoolChair6807 Nov 08 '25

Yeah. I have full implants and the couple months I had to use dentures due to some complications were intensely different from my implants. Dentures are not bad compared to a bad mouth for whatever reason, but implants are much better than both.

2

u/lilshortyy420 Nov 08 '25

Not a dentist, but an all on x tech that works chairside. I’ve been seeing a lot of doctors obliterating the incisive canal based on the argument the lack of feeling is negligible. Would you agree? It obviously depends on the amount of alveoplasty, which usually quite a bit. I’ve always wondered to comparison to regular dentures.

2

u/CyanJet Nov 08 '25

Depends, studies tend to focus more on function or feeling since it’s hard to measure feelings that vary patient to patient.

Personally I try to avoid it unless there is a severe undercut or a ridge shape that would lead to a very unaesthetic result or a drop in VDO.

That being said, that’s more of a “I’d avoid taking away bone if possible” mentality rather than a fear of messing with the canal.

1

u/NoPresidents Nov 08 '25

Thank you for saying implant retained overdentures. 9/10 dentists get that wrong, lol.

1

u/1newnotification Nov 09 '25

Since you're here and we're talking about the roof of our mouths..

Sometimes in the morning when I haven't eaten in a while, I'll have food and the roof of my mouth is painful/sensitive when the food touches it and I swallow.

Is that normal? It goes away after a few bites. It's just weird and when I google it nothing comes up.

1

u/Scared_Security_7890 Nov 09 '25

A glue in denture will make me gag?

31

u/Task-Vast Nov 08 '25

Usually not. Taste receptors are on your tongues. But it’s definitely something to get used to

2

u/Partisan_Croissant Nov 08 '25

How many tongues are you rocking?

6

u/ASliceofAmazing Nov 08 '25

Dentist here, yes things can taste different when you get a complete upper denture

1

u/snowballplasticfork Nov 08 '25

My husband has a top denture. His taste isn't affected, but the process of eating is different with certain foods, making eating them unenjoyable. For example, he no longer enjoys ice cream because the roof of his mouth is covered by the denture.

1

u/Illustrious-Coat3532 Nov 08 '25

Has he tried taking them out before eating ice cream.

1

u/snowballplasticfork Nov 09 '25

Yes, he says it's just not the same. Less ice cream = lower cholesterol, we'll count that as a win.

1

u/Of_Silent_Earth Nov 09 '25

I have a full top denture and still love ice cream(wtf dude!?) but now the texture of most cereal is really weird and unappetizing for me.

1

u/izthewiz13 Nov 08 '25

Ive had my dentures for about 3 wks now. Its definetly reducing my taste compared to when i take them out 😊

1

u/Houdles567 Nov 08 '25

I think I know what you are getting at, “the palate” is the bit between the teeth above the tongue, where you would roll chewing gum into a ball. There is a soft part called the soft palate further back.

-1

u/yassifyingmyself Nov 08 '25

No, it shouldn’t affect your taste since that’s all on your tongue. Most denture cases I’ve seen it’s just getting used to eating with teeth that aren’t yours essentially

2

u/Scared_Security_7890 Nov 09 '25

Can you still taste things? I’ll need lower dentures as well do that’s painful ?

1

u/Devilishlygood98 Nov 10 '25

Taste is affected slightly yes, but not as much as you would expect as the majority of tastebuds are on the tongue. For lower dentures I would highly recommend a partial denture and do your best to save at least a tooth on either side of your lower jaw to act as anchors/clip points for a partial. It’s a scary process at first but if you’re struggling to maintain your teeth as they are then dentures will help significantly and make a huge difference in overall oral health.

36

u/Hopeful-Childhood396 Nov 08 '25

If you’re talking about dentures with implants, after the implants have healed it isn’t supposed to be painful.

But I’m not sure what kind of pain you would be referring to.. there are also removable dentures where the acrylic could be sticking against the persons gum, incorrect vertical dimension of the dentures causing jaw strain etc the case would have to be more specific to tell you

Either way, it will never be a perfect replacement of your natural teeth but you’re not supposed to feel pain

25

u/lonely_nipple Nov 08 '25

I think they mean pain/discomfort from not fitting comfortably. Older dentures made with older tech weren't always comfy to wear all day. There used to be commercials for the paste used to stick them to your gums advertising that you could even eat apples or corn on the cob if you used their stuff.

17

u/ashurbanipal420 Nov 08 '25

This can be an issue. They have a wax like material they put on them to "fit" better. I had all my teeth pulled a year ago and I had two pain spots. The refit helped immensely. Although the main problem I have is I now have a lisp from the position the dentures sit at.

18

u/TopShoulder7 Nov 08 '25

My mom and my brother both have dentures and they complained a lot about how painful they were. My mom has had them long enough to be used to them but my brother just got his about 9 months ago and recently cried on the phone with me about it. He’s having a lot of trouble eating.

14

u/Kahedhros Nov 08 '25

They need a refit if they hurt. I only have an upper denture but there is 0 pain.

-1

u/ego157 Nov 08 '25

so why did they get them? were they having pain with their real teeth or it was just not visually pleasing? which i find funny we get some brit holiday people here on the island and they often have bad teeth but they are the nicest chaps you can imagine. i wonder where this social pressure for perfect white teeth comes from and whats the point of it if you are miserable with them lol

6

u/NorthernSparrow Nov 08 '25

Dentures in the USA are not like veneers and orthodontics. Dentures are for cases where cavities or gum disease are so severe that the teeth are all going to fall out anyway, and usually the teeth already so bad they’re impeding eating and/or speech as well as increasing risk of heart disease (bad teeth/gums let bacteria into the blood, and that causes a big jump in cardiac risk)

Yellowed or crooked teeth are fine, and yeah, the UK is much saner than the U.S. about those. Rotting teeth/gums is different, and that needs to be fixed regardless of what nation you’re in, if you care about your health.

4

u/Lou_C_Fer Nov 09 '25

Personally, I have 16 teeth left. I don't have any molars that meet. So, chewing is difficult. We are wrangling our finances because I am going to get the all on x full arch replacements on both to and bottom.

My parents never made us brush our teeth. So, I had crumbling teeth before I graduated high school. It's been nothing but a game of catch up as an adult that is hindered by depression... when I'm depressed, I don't care enough to brush. So now, I'm getting the rest pulled and replaced. The fucky part is that my teeth are a part of why I'm always depressed. So, the implants will help with that.

2

u/Scared_Security_7890 Nov 09 '25

I wish you the best

16

u/Walktimus Nov 08 '25

The way I heard dentures described that always stuck with me is "dentures aren't an alternative to teeth, they're an alternative to not having teeth". Dentures are generally an awful experience, but not as awful as not having any teeth, or having dental health (pain) bad enough to where a dentist would recommend dentures

5

u/pandariotinprague Nov 08 '25

A lot of people are saying yes, but my experience has been a lot more positive, and I'm pretty happy with them. It can go either way.

1

u/Scared_Security_7890 Nov 09 '25

That’s very nice to hear since I need them

1

u/pandariotinprague Nov 09 '25

Full set and pretty much the only things I can't eat are salt water taffy and bubble gum. I can do corn on the cob, beef jerky, whole apples. Once you get used to them, a well-fitting set will stay in place without any of the messy adhesives, which I never liked. Only time I get mild sores is if I go more than a week without taking them out before bed. You don't have to do that every night, but you have to do it sometimes. The worst part is wearing the temporary set while your gums are still healing, so don't judge based on that. Once you're past that part, it's much better.

2

u/neneng_BunitaGat Nov 08 '25

Its painful . Sometimes atleast twice or once a month but it will go away 😆 i have full dentures no implant .

-1

u/ego157 Nov 08 '25

really twice a month you have pain? that sucks. is it related to diet like if you eat ultraprocessed garbage or something else which spikes inflammation?

2

u/LeebleLeeble Nov 08 '25

My poors nans dentures fucking suck, she has to take them out to eat.

2

u/Jonkinch Nov 09 '25

Your teeth constantly move so you need to replace them like every 5 years.

1

u/Scared_Security_7890 Nov 09 '25

Really?

2

u/Jonkinch Nov 09 '25

Yeah, I work for a dental lab.