Issue 23.12
We all think about how bad dentures are with regard to comfort and function, but what about taste? Taste buds in different locations of the mouth allow us to enjoy different tastes– sweet, salty, sour and bitter in complex combinations. The network of taste receptors that make up taste buds are complex and poorly understood, but it is known that different areas of the mouth have different sensitivities that can vary from person to person. For example, sensitivity for salty/sweet is usually stronger on the front of the tongue and sour/bitter is stronger on the back palate. Everyone’s taste bud network is unique and one in four people are hypersensitive to bitter tastes—women more often than men. Indeed, if you have the right combination of taste buds then you can get the enviable job of taste-tester for a large food or beverage corporation. (I personally, would like to work for Ben and Jerry’s, but that is another story.) With this in mind, one can imagine how devastating it could be for a foodie if they became a denture wearer and certain areas of the mouth were covered with an artificial prosthesis. Denture wearers often complain of alteration of taste—particularly hypersensitivity to bitter/sour. Although not entirely substantiated, it is thought that dentures unpredictably confine food to specific areas that would otherwise be more balanced by being spread out and diluted. Furthermore, dentures can insulate the mouth from the temperature of food that has been shown to affect taste perception. Indeed, this is one more example that helping people cope with tooth loss is more than just physically replacing teeth with dentures.
As southern Utah’s only ADA recognized specialist in treating patients with missing and damaged teeth (a prosthodontist), Dr Andrus is uniquely qualified to help you. He can be reached at 435-674-3100.