I Got My New Plate - Dental Health Message Board

faith771022 · 05-21-2004, 01:15 PM

hi all mrs_pipebuggier here.

well i went back to affordable dentures today and told them how unhappy i was with my temporary denture(for those of u not aware of my problem, i showed atleast and inch of gumline when i smiled, plus had pretty good sized teeth on top of that)so needless to say i looked pretty ridiculous. I walked in (SMILING THE BIGGEST GUMLINE SMILE I COULD) and asked them what was wrong with this picture(pointing at my mouth). when i was taken into the back the dentist took one look at me and decided to make me a whole new plate. im still not exactly happy with my new smile but im not horrified anymore like i have been for the last 5 weeks. compared to the other plate these teeth look alot smaller.. it just might take some getting use to.. when i smile now i show maybe 1/8 inch of gumline. even the dentist said he wasnt completely satisfied with that but corrections would be made when i get my permanents in may. so the moral of this story is , you should be happy.. if your not ...THEY SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. faith..

ps.....the dentist told me that people usually come back in after 6 weeks and he uaually just makes them a new plate instead of trying to adjust the old one.. i told him he should have informed me of that. the last i heard they said they didnt need to see me for 4MONTHS. and i did not want to look like this for that long. he said in order to make the gumline less he would have to shorten the length of the teeth also. i told him whatever it took.. you guys might think im just hard to please but thats not the case. other people aslo told me how bad the old denture looked.. bye for now faith

muppet · 05-21-2004, 03:38 PM

I am glad that you got some satisfaction today. Next week will be seven weeks for me, and my top plate shows way too much gum. When I smile a big smile, my upper lip gets hung up on it.I hate when that happens. Even without smiling big you can still tell that there is entirely too much gum showing, with just a slight smile.People that I see out in public that I know have told me so.I kept thinking my gums were not done going down, but some have told me as they go down, the top plate will rise upward, and others tell me it will hang down more.I have never had dentures before so how am I supposed to know which it is?I will ask them about mine next week for sure.

knorr · 05-21-2004, 04:51 PM

Faith, I'm so glad that you stood your ground and got things taken care of.
I went to the dentist today too, and had success as well

He put in a hard liner today and that took care of my gummy smile....it's only been 8 weeks since my extractions, and I've read on these boards that a hard relign should be much further down the road, but my dentist said it should last 6 months, and if it doesn't....he'll do it again, at no charge! I figured he knows what he's talking about, so I went ahead, and it fits so much better. I do have to say that the process was no fun though....much nastier tasting than the soft relign material they use, and trying to get the thing out of my mouth after it had 'set' was no fun...in fact, it hurt like hell...
the stuff hardens and has sharp edges and is so tight making it difficult to get out of your mouth without scraping your gums....but I lived through it.
After the relign I still had the crease between my upper lip and nose when I smiled, giving me a 'horsey' look....so the dentist took a wax mold and will go back next week to have it checked. He may need to add some acrylic to the top of the denture so I don't have that space - his motto is that anything can be fixed, so I'm happy about that.
I don't think that you're a 'hard' patient.....you paid for those dang things and should be 100% satisfied - I'm glad that it worked out. I've seen too many stories from people who have been so dissatisfied with their dentures and couldn't get restitution from the dentist and ended up having to find another dentist to do them right. At least in your case, you gave them a chance to fix it and they are doing just that!!! Good for you!

Valerie

faith771022 · 05-21-2004, 05:52 PM

well valerie. the more i look at these new dentures.. the more i dislike them. they are better than what i had before BUT now i have too little of teeth. even with the denture in i have that sunken look about my face. is it that i have to compromise here.. either have too much gum or too little teeth. these actually look too small for my mouth.. i liked the teeth on the last denture.. i naturally have larger teeth but i hated the gumline.. now the gumline is ok, but teeth look funny.. uuuuuuugggghhhh. faith