Dear Dr.
I had worn a full upper denture for about 12 months with absolutely no problems but, for the past three months, I cannot wear them without them causing me to gag. I can allay the problem by chewing on gum and it is not a problem when I eat but otherwise, I cannot
Keep them in my mouth. The gagging stops immediately upon removal. I have also recently noticed that even the gum is ineffective when I'm physically stressed. This occurred after a couple hours of raking my lawn. I really started to gag even with the gum and had to remove the denture. What can I do? Can my dentist shorten the dentures. I mentioned it to him and he said it would affect the suction and fit of the denture.

Ed Brown

If the dentures are shortened, it will affect the suction and they won't stay in as well. You said you've only been wearing a full denture for about a year-- did you have teeth removed at the time this denture was made? If so, there's a good chance you need to have a reline. The reline will make the denture fit better because after removal of teeth the bone shrinks causing the denture not to feel as secure. It may be slipping slightly and therefore causing the gagging.

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Originally Posted by nikosmom

If the dentures are shortened, it will affect the suction and they won't stay in as well. You said you've only been wearing a full denture for about a year-- did you have teeth removed at the time this denture was made? If so, there's a good chance you need to have a reline. The reline will make the denture fit better because after removal of teeth the bone shrinks causing the denture not to feel as secure. It may be slipping slightly and therefore causing the gagging.

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Yes, I had 9 teeth removed and I have not yet had a reline so, do you think that a reline may help. I do have some slippage now when I talk but not always. At times, they fit tightly and slip on other occasions.

Ed Brown

Yes, I'd suggest having a reline. That should help with the slippage and hopefully if they aren't slipping then you shouldn't experience the gagging. Since you had so many teeth removed at once, you will probably need to have this denture replaced fairly soon. After extracting teeth, the gum tissue heals and once the swelling goes down, the denture won't fit the same.

A lot of times dentists offer this as a "package" at the time the first denture is made. Many dentists can do a reline in the office same day.

Try a reline, or maybe get it ground down near the back, but not on the internal surface (the part that provides suction)

I got an upper denture in Jan 2010, I got all my teeth pull at the top but I had to go back several times cause the gum part of the dentures was wearing off were I could see my teeth in the inside of them and they made me gag all the time so I went back on the 4th of May and they fit perfect but I have started back gaging and I don't understand why the gum part is wearing out so thin and fast I paid this dentist $849:00 to fix my mouth and it has been only 4 in a half month what should I do.

I'd suggest you see a denturist for a consultation. He/she might be able to give you some suggestions if your dentist hasn't been able to answer your questions.

I have had a real hard time getting use to my upper dentures, gagging is a real problem ,but when I use denture addhesive it stops the gagging pretty much , I found that fixodent with scope is the best at least for me anyway. It has been two years and I still gag,so the other day I went to have a liner ajustment and the dentist shaved of quit a bit of the back and I don't gag as bad. Before this I couldn't even put them in my mouth with out wanting to throw up now I can wear them with out addhesive but when I want to eat I use addhesive that I carry all the time. Eating chocolate seams to desolve the addhesion of the addhesive so stay away from chocolate. When I do eat sweets like chocolat I just take them out and pig out..