Can you advise me? I wasn’t thrilled about having to get dentures. I was certain I would look like an old woman and I’m only 29. However cancer destroyed my teeth. I was pleasantly surprised that my dentures looked as beautiful as they do. Here’s the bad part though. I am worried that I am allergic to them. After I had them in for the first day, my mouth became a bit itchy. After the second day, my glands started swelling and the area around my eyes turned red. I took them out the third day because I didn’t have to be anywhere. The symptoms calmed down. I certainly can’t live without teeth, though. If I am allergic to them, is there a way to get some medication to help with that?
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
I does sound to me like you are allergic to these dentures. I would not mess around with this. In fact, if you continue using something you are allergic to it can turn life threatening. In some cases, it can close up your throat and make it hard for you to breathe. I would stop wearing this until this situation is resolved.
Step one is to see an allergist. They can help you determine exactly what you are allergic to. One possibility is that you are having a reaction to the monomer in the acrylic. When a denture is first processed, the acrylic is in liquid form, which is a monomer. A chemical reaction is used in order to get the liquid to harden, turning the monomer into a polymer. However, some of the monomer always ends up leftover. You probably remember from high school chemistry that in chemical equations there was generally some excess of one of the reactants.
You have two options if this is the problem. First, your dentist can try to convert the leftover monomer to polymer. This is sometimes possible by immersing the denture in very hot water for several hours. If your dentist is interested in the research on this, he or she can look in the National Library of Medicine. A second option is to have him remake the denture, but this time he’d have to use a different resin. Acrylic isn’t the only option.
A Problem with Dentures
You mentioned being worried that dentures would make you look old. It is not the dentures themselves that do that, but the side effect of wearing them long term. When your teeth are removed, your body begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone. While it does this to be as efficient with your body’s resources, it has the unfortunate side effect of shrinking your jawbone. After ten years or so, depending on the rapidity with your body, you will no longer have enough of your jawbone left to even retain your dentures. In dental circles, this is known as facial collapse. This is what gives that aged appearance, as you can see from the image directly above.
This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.