What's Your Experience with Dentures?

I need to get Dentures ASAP, but I'm looking for some guidance.

I'm going through Affordable Dentures and getting a $2000 set (Including the cheap guys you get while healing)
But extractions are going to cost me betwen 5-6k... Jeez.

I'm having trouble making this leap though; here's a little backstory:

I'm 21. I have a genetic condition that affects a whole bunch of stuff throughout the body called Vascular Elhers Danlos Syndrome. Anyways, because of it, I have always had soft enamel, but my teeth were fairly healthy nonetheless.
I also have GERD, which wasn't giving me issues until I had an abdominal surgery that left me with a semi-paralyzed stomach. So now, the acid has nowhere to go but up basically.
So, I've gone from healthy teeth about a year and a half ago, to my dentist recommending last month that we pull teeth as they begin to bother me.
Most of my teeth have huge holes. little decay, just holes in the enamel. I had a tooth pulled last Thursday, and have been eating on one side of my mouth as a result, and have lost fillings and my teeth are just chipping away.
Some orthodontists really don't want to pull my teeth because I'm young and they look repairable, but fillings fall out after a month or two. Everything is just happening really fast, and my teeth won't be viable for long.

I'm having a difficult time dealing with this. My mom has dentures, but she's also middle aged and smoked meth. She hates them so much she never uses them though, she just wears them to weddings. She cries about her appearance all the time. I'm not one to worry much about appearances, but when I smile I'm very toothy, so I know people are definitely going to notice. I'm worried about eating though, and everyone's urging me to remember dentures aren't a replacement for teeth.

Anyways, my teeth are falling apart fast, and I need to figure things out before they crumble. I don't really have the money, but I don't have much of a choice.

So how were your transitions from teeth to dentures? Are yours comfortable? How was healing from surgery? How often do you wear your dentures? I want to hear your experiences with them.

 

Dang bro, harsh situation!
I knocked out 5 front teeth, then had 2 more extracted after a fun introduction of my mouth to my mountain bike (went otb and brand-new uncut fork tube went... well you get the idea).
There was a lot of oral pain in the rehabbing, but that was mostly due to my method of extraction and resulting collateral damage.
Over 2 years and 3 bone grafts later I was finally able to get fitted with cheap(not) implants.
But I wore a denture-like prosthesis' in the between time and they were a drag. Better than a pirate face, but not by much.
Lost some weight bc taking them out in front of others for eating was too embarrassing.
I had to carry around a box to put them in for eating. Then had to rinse/brush before I could wear them again or they would get all funked up and gross.
So not a lot to look forward to, sorry.

Other than I did get used to it. And to a certain extent, with time, got over it.
But I am very happy now with the implants/bridges my prosthodontist made for me. Well worth the cost if you can swing it!

Edit. I'm re-reading your post. I did not think dentures required surgery. Are you getting implants?

 

Nope, I got all 27 teeth removed at once. If you compared x-rays of my teeth from 1 year, 6 months, to a couple of months ago it was clear they would have been gone very soon. Fillings fell out within a month of getting them, my teeth would crumble, and they were starting to ache fast.

I was supposed to have all of my teeth extracted at once on the 14th, but I ran into some heart complications and they had to scramble to complete the tops. Earlier today... well, yesterday now I guess, haha, I got my lowers removed. Surgery went much better this time. I did lose weight, and I totally get where you're coming from with having to pull the dentures out and being embarrassed to eat in front of people.

I had a blood sugar drop yesterday while shopping so I had to stop and grab something. I'm starting to somewhat get the hang of chewing, and the only thing I could find that was semi soft were cream filled wafters.
I hop in my corolla, I'm trying to break it off, I've got a sore thats almost down to bone and my dentures are like peeling out, so I just honk into it to get it over with, they slip out a bit, I shove them back into my face, look up and see some dude chilling in his Prius quickly looking away as if he didn't see the ordeal, and I was a bit embarrassed that he didn't even laugh, I would've been laughing, haha.

Its definitely been... an experience, lol.

I had a tooth pulled around the time I wrote this post with no anesthetic, gas, local, anything like that and it was alright, but during my top surgery they broke into my sinus cavity, so I looked like a domestic violence victim, haha. Really glad wearing a face mask is appropriate, at least that way I only looked like I had a black eye. Felt like a car ran over my face. Bloody noses constantly the first day, gah. Probably the worst pain I've ever been in in my life. They gave me some pretty strong painkillers, I was expecting your typical Norco, but I didn't take anything. Couldn't keep food down at all for the first 7 days or so.
I'm already bruised up from my surgery 18 hours ago and starting to feel the pain, so we shall see how this one goes I guess, but I can't imagine it'll be worse than the last. Already nauseous so I'm not looking forward to it, lol.

I think the worst part is it just feels like adolescence in your mouth. The dentures fit, then they don't, then they fit, then they look like horse teeth as your gums heal and they replace the soft liner. You wake up without your teeth and look rough. I'm just a kid so it's not the greatest, but at least my teeth aren't super yellow from years of chugging coffee with shit enamel anymore, haha. I already have a pretty restricted diet so it's just another drop in the bucket of bs. I just feel really lucky that the stimulus hit when it did; really helped cover the astronomical cost of surgery.

When I wrote this I had no idea what to expect. My mom has dentures but they make her gag just being in her mouth. I didn't realize until I started really searching that I found so many people who are young have dentures. No one shares it though. It's like this big secret. I have a good friend I met through our local Off-roading chapter who pulled her teeth out for me, she has a kid my age so I think she has a soft spot for me, and she cried after because no one had ever seen her without her teeth before. That's just so mental to me. I've always been really open, and because of it, a lot of people will ask me things they feel uncomfortable asking others. I guess I do it because my whole journey with my health everyone's either so dramatic in like support groups or super quiet about their illnesses. I can't say I was surprised when no one responded to this, considering when I searched "dentures" all I came up with was people making fun of each other in other threads, haha.

Anyways, thanks for responding with your story. I'm really surprised in my MX years I never hurt myself like that. You definitely feel invincible until you're not, that's for sure. Implants were definitely out of the question money wise; I'm surprised I was able to afford these. I do plan on getting posts at some point when I save up some more money and get more comfortable with these. Posts are basically just the part of the implant underneath, and you get hardware installed on your dentures so they just snap in. I'll have to do more research to see if they're worth it, but posts help save your bone from degrading over time, so it's probably a smart idea. I'm glad you were able to move on from the partials since they were bugging you. I hope at some point I can get some new teeth too, but I can't work and am getting more sick so I doubt that's going to happen, but one can dream, haha. I've been doing better with my art business, so maybe one day that can miraculously cover some cool stuff. til then, getting used to these is... interesting.

The weirdest thing about it all is I thought I was going to freak out... after surgery, maybe after I saw my bare gums for the first time (I'm healing dentures in) maybe when I lost the bottom teeth, maybe when I saw my face start to warp, but it's just not happening. I feel like I'm handling it too well especially compared to all my friends; they're all significantly older than me and the ones who have dentures have these stories like they cried for months, one threw the dentures out the car window leaving surgery... when is my big fit coming?! lol.

 

LOL- good time for face masks!!
Your courage and resilience is humbling.
Society so much emphasis put on appearances, it can be hard not to internalize it. But your positivity is inspiring.
My ordeal was traumatic but with relatively few complications (I was a young healthy 47yo when it began), other than the multiple bone grafts.
If there is any way to swing it, posts are a good investment in your long term health. Saving the bone is a good thing- as if you didn’t know-
Damn- Ima hafta to get rich quick and buy some of your art!

 

Definitely, luckily the healthiest thing about me are my bones. Perks of being from Wisconsin I guess, haha. They said my facial bone is really dense, so I don't have to hop on it, but of course if I got up there in age by bone would definitely degenerate quite a bit.
Before I would have considered 47 to be quite young to get dentures or partials, but I've seen soooo many young people now who have them, it's kinda shocking.
It's not too hard in my situation to look past the appearances junk. Rapidly declining health just means more trying to stay comfortable; going to the store in sweats and a messy bun, bringing a backpack of essentials everywhere. Sitting on the floor because you can't stand any longer, this denture business all just feels like a drop in the bucket, but it feels so much more permanent. In the back of your head being sick you kinda think what if one day I can get better somehow. I damn well know my teeth aren't gonna grow back though, haha. it's a weird feeling.

If you don't mind me asking, what are implants like btw? I'm sure in ways they feel much like teeth. Do getting the posts done hurt pretty bad? I'm not sure if it would be better or worse than these extractions have been. I can only imagine it's in a pretty similar league, especially if you get multiple; I'll only be looking at getting a few, so I have that going for me at least.

 

I have 4 posts securing 2 bridges with 3 and 4 teeth per. They are great. The best part of my unfortunately shaped face actually. Of course not having them come out is so noice!
But also because they function like teeth for the most part. Other than there is a space between the bridge and gum that gets filled with food which I have to flush with a water pik.
I have the much cheaper "temporary" acrylic ones, not the porcelain ones. Porcelain is stronger and looks/feels more like actual tooth, for 4-5x the cost.
Acrylic is supposed to be just to finalize the fit before committing to porcelain, but are not as strong and are bulkier as a result.

As for the posts, that should not be too bad. I had most of the posts go in with just a local to get through the gums.
There are no nerve endings in bone, so drilling the sockets was just a mild high speed vibration feeling. Caveat being, that due to the micro-fracturing throughout my upper and lower jaw bones, and a nerve close to the area, one socket (the final one) was excruciating and I had to go under after all.
10x on what you said about feeling invincible until you are not. I am so paranoid about taking a shot to the face and losing the front of my mouth again. I lost a lot of bone where there is not a lot to begin with and I worry I could not repeat the procedure if something happened again. I should probably wear a mouth guard full-time! And a full face helmet. With collar mounted airbags.
But actually I am mountain biking again and with an open face lid, no less.

 

My mom used to have a 4 tooth top front bridge before she lost all of her teeth. It wasn't secured with posts though, it was more like a plate. She had it for years, and it popped out one night while she was eating before work and I've never seen someone so hysterical in my life. Crazy to think she maybe puts in her dentures once a year now, haha.
I guess maybe getting posts wouldn't be terribly painful then, that's good to know! From surgery on the 14th I still have a ton of exposed bone, and now im starting to push tiny shards of bone closer to the sockets which is mildly irritating, mostly because digging them out causes me to bleed everywhere, but it's not horribly painful at all.
Because of my genetic condition, locals don't work on me at all unless its Novocaine with epinephrine (which is standard) but I can't have epi because of my overly sensitive heart, so for something like that they'd probably have to drug me up somehow or twilight me, heart wont let me go all the way under either, lmao.

Speaking of getting back on a bike, I totally get how that fear diminishes over time. I grew up dirt biking with my aunts, my grandma has a 35 acre farm she doesn't use much of, so we had a large field tucked into the woods that we made a track out of. Jumps, pits, all sorts of stuff. You had to ride through some cleared forest where the ground is covered in huge, exposed roots. Our old Jeep could barely get through it, so it was a little rugged.
One day my aunt was going over them and hit one wrong, she went over her handlebars, and they went under her ribs and caused internal bleeding in her liver. They had to wear chestplates and helmets after that, I didn't, perks of being a black sheep I guess? I was jazzed about it then, haha. The worst I ever did was we were riding a ditch home one day and I hit a log and went flying. Landed on my head and tweaked my neck. For years I'd get these insane cramps on the right side of my neck. I get them like once a year or two now but they are super intense. I have a tad bit of limited range of motion because of it, but that's surprisingly the worst I ever did to myself.
We used to tie sleds to the back of our bikes and drive over our pond when it froze over, so much fun shit. So weird getting older and fragile. Looking back, I seemed damn near invincible, haha.

Ah, I want a dual sport so badly. Its been forever since I've been on a motorcycle.

Anyways, it would absolutely blow my mind to loose teeth in an accident like that. I'd definitely be paranoid, at least for a while. Both of my half siblings have chipped their teeth doing dumb shit like resting their teeth on a window on the bus or just falling onto pavement, so I've always been like hyper cautious of my teeth and eyes for whatever reason.

 

ohh man... I just started mountain biking.......

 

Had a similar issue from asthma steroids and inhalers. No cavities for 15 years, then at 23 they began to fall apart and abscess. I would get the root canal and the tooth would then self extract and cause a infection again.
I opted for the same route... rip them out and got plates. It hurt, it sucked, and really important to wear them as much as you can stand to, even during the healing process. The worst is the bone chips that filter up and come out.
I don't regret my decision one bit and very happy to never have to see a dentist again as long as I live.

 

I've been slacking on the top dentures, especially with the bottoms in right now (I get to take them out and clean them for the first time tomorrow). My mouth feels so full, haha. Not feeling anything on the roof of my mouth really makes me want to gag when I try to swallow food, so it hasn't been very fun. My chin is hella square and all bruised up and gnarly from swelling, once that goes down I'll go back to wearing both sets. I'll probably get the tops relined again next week, so hopefully they'll fit a bit better.
The shards are definitely a nuisance, haha.

As an ex pharm tech im curious, did the steroids weaken your bones, or did it just go straight for your teeth if you don't mind me asking?

 

Went for bones as well. The teeth and joints are the worst of it through.
You'll need to go in and get certain spots on the dentures to eliminate the pain they can cause.
I haven't wore mine in a very long time, I went through a period where I had a sinus infection for about 18 months. I always took them out to eat, feels like I am eating with 2 hockey pucks in my mouth. Plus with them in, you have take really small bites and shit still gets under them.

 

Yup, I get that! They're a little miserable but I think I'll get used to it, kinda have to.
That sucks about your joints, I know steroids are particularly harsh to bones, but I never thought about it taking the teeth. I can't imagine how rough that was being so young. I've had them dremel a few spots already. The tops started with 4 huge sores from them rocking back and fourth, now I'm just combating one sore that no matter how much we line the damn things the sore just keeps digging deeper down. As I heal the fit really rapidly changes so I'll be in a lot I'm sure. I was told due to my disability my temp dentures might need to stay in longer than a year.
The bottoms are already causing quite a bit of pain, I think it's pinching the frenulum of tongue, because every time I swallow at all it's just terribly painful. I'll have them look at these probably saturday I think they wanted me to come in for the first adjustment.

I think it's definitely easier to eat without them, even with the kinda sore holes all over. I'm not supposed to, but I have trouble keeping weight on as it is, so anything that allows me to eat trumps everything else medically.

 

For a good fit, there has to be a balance of where the soft tissue meets the hard plastic. This just means that there will be a sweet spot. Trim just enough to fit and be snug but not cause pain. Unfortunately that means you need to tolerate some discomfort to get the skin to mold and to the new hard surface.

 

How are feeling @gasparic104 ?

 

Doing alright. Getting a liner in both dentures tomorrow, yanked my last stitch out of my bottom gums last night. Still allllll sorts of bruised up and still pretty sore. I feel like I was in way more pain for the tops, but recovered faster. I just feel like I have rocks in my jowls now. Pulling out bone shards left and right. Currently gumming at a PB & J, the bottoms are starting to blister me up real bad and I don't eat any better with them so. Overall just hoping they fit my face soon, right now having both dentures in feels like having a football in my mouth, haha. The gums are irritated but I don't really have any pain in the mouth, just my jaw. Lots of little complaints, no big ones.
The bruises have been drawing a bit of attention at places I frequent though

 

Good luck OP, sorry to hear about your dental troubles. Things will get better soon

 

2 hockey pucks.
It will pass and get better, but will always be a struggle. Keep your chin up, you'll make it.

 

@gasparic104, i am curious if you have heard of ClearChoice implants
is that similar to what you have now?

 

Implants are different from dentures entirely.

 

is it the cost?