While dentures can be a fantastic way to restore a smile after tooth loss, these appliances can often affect the way patients taste food. The sense of taste plays a significant role in determining if food is safe to swallow as well as the joy of living, making many denture patients quite interested in finding ways to address this issue. Here’s how dentures can affect your sense of taste along with a few ways for patients to improve this important sense.
How Do Dentures Affect Taste?
People are more likely to wear dentures as they get older, and the sense of taste diminishes with age. However, the way this sense recedes is very uneven, and an older person may lose only half their sense of one taste, seven eighths of their sense of another, and have their sense of a third almost completely intact.
However, dentures can contribute to the diminishing of the experience of taste. The palate plays large roles in the senses of taste and smell, and wearing a denture that covers the palate can make it harder to fully appreciate the flavor of food. Dentures that are not properly and regularly cleaned can also develop accumulations of oral bacteria and food debris, and the taste of this residue can fight with or overpower that of whatever food a patient is eating.
A diminished sense of taste can lead to a loss of interest in cooking or eating a wide variety of foods, which can make it much more difficult for aging people to get all the nutrition they need.
How Can I Keep Things Tasty When Wearing Dentures?
There are a few excellent ways to minimize the effect dentures can have on your sense of taste. These include:
- Clean your dentures properly: By brushing, flossing, and soaking your dentures on a daily basis, you can prevent unpleasant and bad-tasting residues from accumulating on your appliance.
- Minimize your use of denture adhesive: Having too much adhesive on your dentures can allow its flavor to overpower that of food.
- Upgrading to implant dentures: By securing your dentures with dental implants, you can prevent the palate from being covered, which can help to maximize your perception of flavor.
Dentures are meant to be an investment that improves your quality of life. By taking the appropriate measures, you can fully enjoy eating after beautifully restoring your smile.
About the Author
Dr. Douglas Clark III earned his dental degree from the Marquette University School of Dentistry and regularly completes continuing education courses to stay abreast of the latest developments in his field. He is proud to serve as a member of the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. His office in Superior, WI, offers general, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry such as dentures and dental implants. To learn more about improving your sense of taste while wearing dentures, contact his office online or dial (715) 392-5161.