One of the complaints people often have about their dentures is that they feel too big. This can make your dentures feel very uncomfortable as they are crowding your mouth, causing irritation and potentially making you gag. Too large dentures can make it hard to talk and hard to chew — they can even cause you to bite your tongue or cheeks too often. And bulky dentures can make you self-conscious about your appearance as they cause your mouth to bulge out in an unnatural and unattractive way.
Do dentures have to feel like this, or can they be made more comfortable? Dentures can be made more comfortable if they’re made properly.
Dentures Are Bigger Than Natural Teeth
The truth is that your dentures are going to feel larger than your natural teeth. That’s because much of the support for natural teeth was embedded in your bone and hidden underneath your gums. But with dentures, the entire structure is in your mouth.
Instead, your dentures rely on being anchored with suction. The strength of suction depends on the area that can have suction. So to be more secure, dentures require more area, and therefore are bulkier.
Dentures also have to be bulkier because they’re usually not as strong as your natural teeth. This means they have to be thicker to avoid breaking when you chew.
Dentures Are Often Bigger Than Necessary
Even given these conditions, many dentures are bigger than they need to be. Many dentures, especially cheap dentures, are fitted large. With cheap dentures, there are usually a limited number of sizes, and when choosing between the too small and the too large size, you have to choose the too large one. Otherwise they won’t fit over your gums. So these cheap dentures are pretty much guaranteed to feel too big.
But even if you get custom-fitted dentures they are often larger than necessary. Dentists know that suction depends on area, so they’ll often try to make the dentures as large as possible to try to improve retention.
Dentists also worry about the volume lost in the face due to bone loss. They try to compensate for this by making the dentures bigger, but if they don’t know how to do it properly, the dentures just end up being big.
How to Get Dentures That Feel the Right Size
To overcome the problem of too-large dentures, you need to start by getting custom-fitted dentures. Custom-fitted dentures can at least be sized to your mouth. They don’t have to be too big just to be able to fit in your mouth.
Next, you need to work with a dentist who understands the principles of neuromuscular dentistry and can apply them to your denture fitting. This ensures that your dentures will be sized not just to fit in your mouth, but to function in your mouth, which includes comfortable interaction with your gums, tongue, cheeks, and other structures in your mouth.
A FOY® Dentures dentist also understands how tooth and bone loss will progress and affect your facial appearance. They know how to properly counter this effect without simply making dentures big and bulky. They know what works and what doesn’t for countering sunken denture face. Your dentures will look more natural even as they rejuvenate your facial appearance.
Higher quality dentures are made with sturdier materials so they can be smaller and still be durable.
Finally, the biggest impact on the size of your dentures is the need to have suction for retention. If you get rid of your traditional dentures and replace them with implant dentures, you don’t need suction anymore. Your dentures can be more comfortably sized. They will feel a lot more like your natural teeth.
To get dentures that will feel natural and comfortable in your mouth, please call (803) 781-9090 today for an appointment with a Columbia, SC denture dentist at Smile Columbia Dentistry.
