I know it's a shot in the dark, but has anyone overcome sensory issues with dentures...?
The dentist was the thing that sparked what became a mental health crisis, which in turn lead me to discover I am autistic and get a diagnosis. Hurrah! I now at last know what the problem has always been behind the massive medical phobias which have plagued me since babyhood. Only took 56 years to get there! My wayward sensory system makes every intervention a literal assault and results in shutdown and increasingly; thump the walls type melt down, poor communication and no understanding from those treating me - hence an ever mounting anxiety spinning out of control to the point I did not want to be here anymore. Then, after mental health had refused to believe a word I was saying, misdiagnosed me and dumped me in the bin, mid-crisis but with the aide of google, I worked it out... When I was diagnosed, I danced. Wooo, wooo! I'm not mad after all! Oh! Wait! My sensory system is still my sensory system and I still have a problem in medical environments...and indeed with my teeth/dentures.
It all began with a tooth which a Special Care Dentist was to take under a general....I'll try and cut a long story short now...not easy, lol. But they took six - mammoth sensory shock and the mother of meltdowns and MH crisis ensures and all my sensory issues are now literally in my face 24/7. I can't stand the feel of my own mouth. It freaks me out. It striped me of my sexuality among other things because I suddenly couldn't stand my husband being anywhere near my mouth. Even brushing my teeth now often makes me feel sick. And that isn't getting any easier to live with three years on and has me teetering on the bring of overload much of the time.
I looked forward to plates, praying that this would return some sense of normality to my mouth. The minute the dentist tried, wall thumping melt down occurs. Another mammoth sensory shock I didn't expect at all. I naively thought people just popped those in and felt nothing, but it felt like someone was ramming a brick in my mouth in an attempt to kill me; then a massive sensation of profound disgust. The only time top and bottom were in my mouth together, I vomited.
I can't even look at them without feeling sick, and somehow I've got to handle and clean these things.
Poor, long suffering special care dentist is now trying something else. (At least she's a better psychologist than anyone in mental health services or anyone else I've ever dealt with in general health and understood from the get go the melt downs were never about or targeted at her and whatever was happening, it was nothing I intended or wanted to happen). Anyway, now post-diagnosis we both know what we are dealing with and she's trying individual dentures with no plate, making them pink rather than white in the hope I can look at them. She tried two of them in my mouth yesterday...worse than the plates. I had so been hoping these would be the answer to sensory order and some peace, but as soon as they were in I was in a state of panic and retching. I think only the fact that we now know what the issue is and the fact that I was expecting some sensory impact this time, was probably all we had pulling this back from from another meltdown.
Bless her, the dentist refuses to give up on me and wants me to go back for another go. Question here is; has anyone had a similar experience with dentures and did you ever get beyond it. If so, how???
Basically, this is imperative as I can't restore sensory order to my world without them and the day will come when I can't eat without them - and I'm struggling with that now.