If you’re new to dentures, you might find speaking a little challenging at first with a dental appliance in your mouth. Here are a few tips from our Surrey dentists on how to get better at talking with your dentures in.
Whether your dentures are removable or permanent, speaking can feel awkward until you become accustomed to your new teeth.
Even with the best dentures available, you still might experience changes or difficulties in your speech at the outset. For example, you might have difficulty pronouncing S’s and F’s, and your dentures may make clicking noises or shift while you’re talking.
The good news is that you will get used to your dentures with practice and time, and you’ll eventually go back to feeling perfectly comfortable when speaking.
In the meantime, here are some useful tips to help make things go more smoothly:
Dentures alter the anatomy of your oral cavity, so they could increase or alter the sound of your voice. When you spoke before you had dentures, vibrations travelled through the bones of your jaw and skull, but with the dentures in place, it's going to sound a little different. Just remember that the difference is much more noticeable to you than to anyone listening to your voice from the outside.
If you hear clicking when you speak, try talking more slowly. This will help to prevent additional movements that lift or shift your lower denture. Keeping the lower denture stable requires help from the muscles in your lips, tongue, and cheeks, and this can take some practice to master.
It can also be helpful to bite down gently and swallow before you start speaking to keep your dentures in their proper position.
If your dentures frequently slip out of place you can try a denture adhesive, as recommended by your dentist.
Practicing speaking when you’re alone can also be a big help. Read out loud, repeat words that you're having trouble pronouncing, or even talk to your pets. Daily speech practice will help you speak with confidence.