Dentures in Topsham ME

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Learn to Love Your Smile Again in Topsham ME

If you’ve lost even a single one of your teeth, it can dramatically change the way that you feel about yourself. It can compromise your ability to eat the foods you enjoy or to project confidence when meeting people for the first time. The problem gets even worse if you’re missing most, or even all, of your teeth.

Thankfully, if you’re near Topsham, ME, Dr. Lina and the team here at Androscoggin Dental Care can help you! A set of dentures can replace all of your teeth at once, meaning that you can learn to love your smile again. Make an appointment with us and we’ll be happy to bring you in for a consultation.

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Who is a Good Candidate for Dentures?

If you’ve felt the effects of missing your teeth, you could be a perfect candidate for dentures. Whether you’ve lamented the foods you’re unable to eat, have found that it’s difficult to speak easily, or if you’re embarrassed to smile proudly, dentures can help you address all of these issues.

That said, dentures are ideal for patients who are missing most of all of your teeth; if you’ve lost only one or two, there may be another treatment that you’d prefer. It’s also important for patients to have fairly strong gums in order to support their prosthetic.

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Types of Dentures

There are several different kinds of dentures, and which you should use depends on your individual needs. We’ll let you know more when we meet you in person, but here’s what you should know before then.

Partial Dentures

• Partial dentures consist of several acrylic teeth attached to a metal base. They’re designed for patients who are missing many but not all of their teeth, and have small clips that allow them to attach to the natural teeth.

Full Dentures

• Full dentures, on the other hand, are intended for patients who are missing all of the teeth on their gum ridge. They’re made entirely of acrylic, and are meticulously crafted to be able to adhere to the gums entirely via suction.

Implant Dentures

• If you want greater stability, implant dentures can be incredibly useful. They consist of an acrylic prosthetic attached to a series of metal posts that are surgically placed into the jaw. This affords them much greater strength and durability than traditional dentures.

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How Will My Mouth Feel With Dentures in Topsham ME

As with anything we use on a regular basis such as spectacles or braces, there will be an adjustment period with dentures where they will feel strange and foreign. You may feel like you have a “full mouth.” There may be a hyperawareness of your lips being pushed forward; you may even feel like your teeth are too big and taking up too much space in your mouth. Your mouth, sensing that there is something inside, will likely mistake this to mean there is food present, and you may salivate more at first.

These feelings will eventually subside after about 14 days as your mouth adjusts to the new dentures. During this initial adjustment period, you may be advised to wear the dentures all the time, only taking them out for cleaning. Once the adjustment period is over, your dentist will consult with you on an appropriate time to remove your dentures for long periods of time to give your gums a rest. Normally this would be at night when it’s time to sleep.

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Will Dentures Affect My Speech

If you’ve ever had the experience of wearing braces, then you know there was also an adjustment period where your speech patterns were affected. So, the answer here is “yes, at first.” The most likely phonetics to be affected at first will be “S,” “Sh,” “Th” and “Ch” sounds. This is because your tongue is now in a slightly different position from what you are used to. There may also be a new whistling or hissing sound that accompanies your speech.

Regular speaking will eventually retrain you to regain proper pronunciation of words. However, if you’d like to speed up this process, then either read out loud to yourself for a few days or be aggressive about a conversation in the initial days after you receive your dentures. You will eventually adjust to the differences, compensate, and speak normally.

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How Will Dentures Affect Eating

In most cases, dentures will ultimately not affect your eating habits, but some retraining will be required. Some people adjust to eating with dentures after a few weeks. Others may take up to six months to feel comfortable. However, any food that requires hard biting down with the front teeth, such as corn on the cob, or an apple may always present some challenges.

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The Benefits of Dentures

One of the main things that makes dentures so effective is how thoroughly customized they are to the patient’s needs. They’re made from sophisticated dental materials and meticulously sculpted to fit you, giving them both realism and stability.

Not only will this boost your confidence, it will also give you the ability to do things you might have not thought were possible since you lost your teeth. Eating, talking, and smiling will become much easier than they were before.

If you’re interested in learning more, contact us and we’ll schedule you for a consultation. We can’t wait to meet you!

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As with any new addition to your daily living habits, practice will eventually lead to comfort and mastery of your new dentures. But if you have any specific questions or concerns about their use and care, you should always refer them to your dentist and get some reliable, professional advice. Contact our team at Androscoggin Dental Care today for more information.