Communication only works when both parties understand each other enough. However, when you can’t speak clearly, your meaning can become lost, isolating you from the people around you. During the initial few weeks when you get new dentures, you may find talking clearly has become harder than you think. However, don’t get discouraged; it’s temporary inconvenience! In this post, you’ll learn about ways dentures can complicate communication and ways to overcome it.
Be Aware of What Speech Issues You May Face
Before you got dentures, you probably struggled to say s, z, d, g, and any other sound that involves teeth. While these sounds may be easier to make with your dentures in, sounds that require coordination between your teeth and lips or teeth and tongue may feel more precarious. Th, f, and v may feel awkward for a while, causing a slight lisp.
You may also notice clicking sounds coming from your mouth as you try to make certain sounds with your new dentures in. Unlike real teeth, your prosthetics will not have nerves telling how hard you need to close your mouth. As a result, you may find your upper and lower arches meeting more forcefully and sooner than you thought, making an unfamiliar noise in the process.
Be Patient
Although you may wish to jump right into using your dentures and resume normal life, dentures will take some getting used to. Give yourself time to adjust to your new smile. Typically, dentures patients can take anywhere between 15 and 30 days to fully get used to their new replacement teeth and speak normally. If you want to speed up the learning process as much as you can, you need to spend plenty of time every day talking out loud. If all else fails in the meantime, you can use your phone to text or type out or a notebook to write out what you intend to say.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Just like in sports, the more you practice, the stronger, more confident, and more comfortable you will feel as you use your dentures to talk. To put in time, you can read a book aloud, talk with a friend, call a family member, or repeat lines from shows as you watch. Basically, you need to practice various sounds and words that might give you trouble to say. By the time you have achieved your goal, you may not think much about your dentures anymore! It should eventually feel natural!
Your new smile can only get you so far when trying to talk to someone else. Speaking with dentures may present challenges at first, but with determination and practice, you can keep lines of communication open and clear. In just a short time, you’ll be able to share your thoughts and questions confidently.
About the Practice
Dentures are just one of the many options we provide for those with tooth loss. Williamsburg Dental dentists are qualified and experienced in placing and restoring implants, and every treatment plan is personalized to the individual patient. In addition to being insurance friendly, the team offers an in-house membership plan that can make dentures and other treatments more affordable for those who do not have employee benefits. To learn more about dentures and paying for them, reach out to us online or contact one of our six locations in Lincoln.