A nice set of pearly whites can greatly help one’s self-esteem. This confidence can indirectly affect other aspects of your life, allowing you to feel self-assured enough to boldly face obstacles and brave challenges. Thus, a winning smile can go a long way in making you feel like you can do anything in life.
For this reason, as well as many others, taking care of your oral health is extremely important. Nowadays, kids as young as two are taught to care for their teeth so they’ll grow up with a complete set of healthy teeth and a high confidence level. That’s also why people who engage in sports as a hobby or profession wear a custom mouth guard when they play – to protect their teeth from injuries or impact that could lead to its loss or damage.
But, of course, things don’t always work out the way you’d want them to. There are certain circumstances, such as an illness or accident, that could lead you to lose teeth.
Though unfortunate, you don’t have to worry when that happens, because dentists can make dentures that will allow you to retain your beautiful smile. In addition, dentures will help eliminate the adverse consequences of tooth loss, such as jawbone and gum recession, which could have an impact on your oral health.
Considering these benefits, getting dentures may be a great option since they could enhance your confidence and quality of life. So, if you’re planning on getting one, here are some of the things you can do to prepare:
- Prepare Financially
A full set of dentures can be pretty costly. But if it would give you your life back, it’s something you can consider saving up for. If the dentures can give you the freedom you long for to smile, then the cost of full dentures will be worth it.
Aside from the cost of dentures, you also would have to consider the cost of follow-up check-ups and adjustments. Typically, adjustments are free of charge within the first 60 days after you have received your set. This is something you would have to verify with your dentist and your insurance provider.
You will also need to purchase the necessary medicines and tools, such as cleaning paste, denture brush, denture case, and denture cleansing solution. All of these are important in caring for your new dentures so they will last a long time.
- Prepare For The Crucial Steps
Unless you’re getting emergency dentures, which are typically available within 24 hours but are only a temporary solution, you need to be patient and follow the rigorous steps in getting full or partial dentures from your dental prosthetist. To give you an idea, here are the steps you need to take:
- Dental health visit – Your dentist will examine your mouth and recommend the kind of denture applicable for your condition. They will also check your gum and bone health to relay this information to the person making the dentures.
- Initial impression – The dental prosthetist will measure your upper and lower gums and make impressions using an impression paste.
- Second impression – The dentist will check your bite using a wax rim to ensure an accurate fit of the denture on your mouth. On this visit, you may also select the shape and shade of the teeth you want to be done.
- Try-in visit – Your dentist will let you wear the try-in wax and not the actual dentures to check your comfort level, bite, and whether you feel any pain, so necessary adjustments can be made.
- Fitting – During fitting, your dentist will give you the rundown of what you need to do with your dentures, explain the dos and don’ts, and give you the chance to ask questions so they can shed light on the things you want to know.
- Prepare Physically
It would be best to ensure you’re in excellent health when you receive your new dentures because it takes a while for the gums to heal and for your mouth to acclimate to the appliance. One good step to take is to quit smoking. It might be challenging for someone who smokes often, but it’s necessary. Smoking not only affects the smell of your mouth, but it can also slow down the healing of gums.
You may also dose up on vitamin C so faster healing can transpire and help soothe the inflammation on your gums.
- Plan Your Meals
It may take a month for you to get used to your new dentures, which could mean that you won’t be able to eat steaks and other foods that take effort to chew. Because of this, you will need to plan your meals for the duration so you won’t get irritable and moody from having to eat only one type of soft food.
- Prepare Mentally
If you’ve been without teeth for an extended period, this may be a massive change for you. But again, it takes a while to acclimate to dentures, so don’t expect that you can look as effortlessly natural as you did before when you still had a complete set of teeth.
You might also need to prepare for the attention that will suddenly shift towards you, which can be a good thing or not, depending on your comfort level.
Conclusion
There’s a solution to partial or complete loss of teeth. You don’t have to wallow in despair and self-pity. All you need to do is take the first step and ask for help from your dentist. To help you with the process, follow the tips given above to prepare for your new dentures. You must be mentally, physically and financially prepared to have dentures to help with your confidence. And soon, you’ll be ready to face the world
