Issue 28.12
Mother Nature never intended for your oral tissues to be covered or stressed with plastic dentures. Not only can dentures alter the way food tastes as mentioned in the last article, but they can also change the way food feels as it is chewed. First of all, within six months after starting to wear a denture, the nerves in the gums themselves that used to surround the teeth actually change to become about 6 times less discriminating than when natural teeth are present—food doesn’t feel the same as it used to. Furthermore, the plastic the denture is made of also dampens the pleasurable crispy and crunchy vibrations of foods instead of allowing the noises to be quickly and clearly transmitted acoustically through the hard structures of teeth and jaw bone to the ears. This means that not only may food become less enjoyable, but with less sound feedback, there also may be more difficulty in coordinating the way your mouth moves when chewing it—this can be messy and slow you down. All of these things sometimes influence denture wearers to change their diet away from the healthy foods they once enjoyed to less healthy choices. Luckily, many denture wearers adapt to these changes, but others can be rehabilitated and regain more of the lost pleasurable feel of food through specialized solutions for missing teeth. Indeed, this is yet 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.