Can Dentures Affect Your Sense Of Taste?
People often ask, “Can dentures change my taste buds?” Although this is one of the most frequently asked questions about dentures, there isn’t really a one-size-fits-all answer to it.
Before we determine whether or not dentures can change your taste sensation, let’s take a quick look at some other possible causes:
Age
Our sense of taste diminishes as we get older. Loss of taste becomes more pronounced after 60 years of age. As we age, the nerves within the nose tend to degenerate, thereby reducing a person’s ability to smell and taste.
Medication
Sometimes, certain medication can cause several side effects, including decrease your taste sensation. It can leave a metallic or bitter taste in your mouth. Chemotherapy drugs, including methotrexate and doxorubicin, have been linked to changes.
Temperature
Low and high food temperature can affect your taste perception. Increasing temperature tends to enhance the response to desserts and other sweet items. This is why ice cream tastes sweeter when it’s warm.
Allergy and illness
You may experience loss of taste during a cold or flu. Similarly, diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Bell’s palsy, hepatitis, Sjögren’s syndrome and oral cancer can also interfere with your taste.
During illness or allergy, damage to the nerves (responsible for carrying taste signals) can lead to taste changes.
Bottom Line
It’s important to determine if your taste has been affected by any of the abovementioned factors. Generally, dentures covering the upper palate can affect a person’s taste sensation.
However, in majority of cases, people have experienced taste changes in the first few months after getting dentures. This is due to a simple fact: it takes time to get used to dentures. Your mouth needs to go through some months of adjustment. Once you get used to how your dentures feel, you will experience normal taste sensation.
That being said, denture cleaning can decrease the impact they have on your taste. If you don’t keep them clean, residual deposits can cause bad food taste as well as bad breath.
Denture cleaning isn’t as complicated as you think. Check out this helpful guide on how to clean your dentures. If you need professional denture services, get in touch with our experts. With over 15 years of experience, we offer a wide range of denture services, including insertion, repair and adjustment.
