When to wear partial denture?

[DeaDLocK]

Hi,

I just got a partial metal-based denture done to fill two missing molars in my lower jaw (one on either side). The reason I got it done was to hold the gap (adjacent teeth have already shifted by 1-2mm) and to prevent eruption of the opposing teeth on the top side. Chewing function or speech is not affected by the missing teeth.

This is the first (and hopefully last!) denture I have gotten, and found it surprisingly comfortable, even during the first day. However I have a hard time eating with them on. I find the metal brace is in an awkward position for my tongue (only whilst eating - speaking is fine), and small amounts of food very easily gets wedged in the little nooks and underneath the denture. And the whole process of eating and tasting feels very unnatural.

1) Is there any downside to not wearing the denture during meals? I would remove it prior to meals, and after the meal put it back in.

2) Even better, is there any downside to wearing the denture only at night? Remember the sole reason for getting the denture done was to stop lateral movement of adjacent teeth and to stop eruption of the opposing teeth. Will wearing them for 7 or 8 hours every night, and not during the day, be sufficient to achieve this goal?

Thanks for any help.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Retainers should be able to prevent any movement of teeth in general if used properly.  Have you discussed the option of using your denture as a retainer with your dentist?

[DeaDLocK]

Thanks Jerome.

I'm missing teeth 19 and 30. Everything else is intact. All the gaps in between teeth 20-29 have gotten wider in recent years.

Can you get retainers to stop lateral/sideways movement of teeth 20-29 in my case? I thought retainers were only to address froward/back movement.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

You could probably get away with taking the denture out during eating and putting them back in afterwards

If your only intention is to use it as a retainer, why didn't you make a retainer to wear at night instead of a denture?  I suppose you could do that and it should be sufficient but make sure you wear it every night without missing a night.  The teeth are going to be prone to moving without the nearby teeth