I've had my partial denture for more than a week now and it's kind of creepy how well it fits now. I often forget that I have it on during the day apart from when I'm actually eating. It now feels extra noticeable when I take it out to brush - it's a feeling that is somewhat similar to how my eyes feel after having worn my contact lenses for several hours. And it feels a bit uncomfortable when I first put it on in the morning - like my teeth may have adjusted a bit in the night and now the denture needs to push things back. As someone who has been wearing glasses since preschool, I'm very used to the need to keep such "appliances" on to correct physical challenges.
The cleaning routine is not as tedious as feared, but it does take a bit of work. I pop it out whenever I brush and make sure to rinse it well as food can get stuck on the inside of the denture. The real challenge is making sure I allocate sufficient time to clean it before bed. I'm forever balancing making sure that I wear it as long as possible throughout the day but also leaving enough time to clean then before going to bed. There is a bit of time element involved since I need to soak the denture in the cleaning solution for 3-5 minutes before giving it a quick brush. It's that delay - the need to wait for it to pre-soak - that requires a bit more thought. And then I get to leave it in the solution overnight in order to begin the cycle anew tomorrow.
Admittedly, I had been hoping to get a more permanent dental implant to handle my extracted tooth. The costs were a bit too significant for me, so I decided to go with the cheaper denture option. But it's not as bad as feared and I know that I'll get fully used to this routine in time. The only thing I'm rather anxious about is figuring out how to stick to this routine whenever I travel for work. that'll mean bringing additional supplies to facilitate the cleaning and figuring out where to leave my denture to soak overnight and such.
Beyond all this, the eating experience isn't too bad either. I still get very nervous about eating anything significantly hard on that side as biting down applies weird pressure on the neighboring teeth that are used to brace the denture in place. So I still do the heavier chewing on my right side, but I consciously shift softer food to my left just to even things out. It's quite liberating, honestly speaking. I can't believe I put up with one-sided eating for so many years.
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