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My upper denture makes me gag when I wear it. I spend most of my time without it in. The lower ones are not causing me to gag, but it is hard to eat when I only wear half of my teeth. Is there a way to stop the gagging? Are there softer upper dentures?
Amanda
Dear Amanda,
There are soft liners for dentures, but that does not help with the palate on the upper denture which is causing you to gag. This has to be firm in order to stabilize the denture.
The ideal solution for you would be to get implant supported dentures. This is where you use between four to eight dental implants and then your denture will be anchored to your implants. This will prevent you from needing anything across your palate. However, they are more expensive. If you can’t afford them for both your upper and lower arches, then I highly recommend that you at least get them for your lower dentures. I know those are not the ones that are bothering your, but it’s important.
While the upper dentures are held in by suction, your lower dentures rest on the bone ridge. However, the longer you do not have teeth, the smaller your jawbone gets. This is because of bone resorption. Eventually you will not have enough bone left to keep your denture in. Then you will have no way to eat solid food at all. This is known as facial collapse. The only way to prevent that is with dental implants.
So, what do you do about the upper denture if you can’t afford the implants there? It’s possible for your dentist to try a fairly new technique that Dr. Finley Sutton of Great Britain has developed. Instead of having your denture base extend all the way to your vibrating line, which is where your soft palate begins, your dentist could cut it back a bit so that it doesn’t reach your soft palate. In some cases, that has helped patients with a strong gag reflex. It can’t be cut back very far or you lose the suction and then it won’t stay in.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. John Theriot.