Why Would Your New Dental Bridge Affect Your Sense Of Taste?
For those with missing teeth, dental bridges certainly make it far easier to enjoy their favorite foods. Obviously, the simple act of chewing food (or mastication, to use its proper term) was severely compromised with those absent teeth, so now that your dental bridge has been fabricated and fitted, you're probably looking forward to enjoying mealtimes again. But while chewing has undeniably become easier, what's with that strange taste in your mouth? There are several reasons why a new dental bridge can disrupt your sense of taste. Fortunately, none of these potential issues are permanent.
Reduced Sense of Taste
When you can still taste your food but it seems to be lacking a certain something, it can be that your new dental bridge has temporarily diminished your sense of taste. It's probably not that the food was badly-prepared or wasn't seasoned properly, but a new dental bridge in your upper dental arch can in fact block certain taste receptors on the roof of your mouth from actually registering taste. Although you have a lot of taste buds on your tongue, these are in fact also located throughout your mouth. The presence of the bridge can block some of these taste buds, but this feeling of diminished flavor won't last. Other taste buds will compensate, and you will quickly adjust to the dental bridge.
An Unpleasant Taste
Sometimes it's not so much a seemingly reduced flavor level in your mouth, but some people can experience an unpleasant or foul taste in their mouth when their dental bridge is fitted. This is not necessarily anything to do with the bridge itself, and it can be that food is becoming trapped underneath it. This is a common complaint with new dental bridges, and it's a matter of becoming familiar with what is required to exhaustively clean underneath and around your dental bridge. Invest in a dental floss threader, which allows you to move a piece of dental floss between your gingival tissues and the underside of the bridge. This should be the end of the problem.
A Chemical Taste
Occasionally, a new dental bridge can be accompanied by a new taste. This can be a lingering taste of chemicals or something synthetic that you can't quite put your finger on. In rare cases, you might have a sensitivity to the materials used to construct your dental bridge, or more likely, the dental cement that was used to bond the bridge into place. This often subsides without the need for further action, but if this unpleasant taste should linger, consult your dentist. This is an unpleasantness you don't need to tolerate, although it might be that your bridge will need to be removed, assessed, and put back into place using a different bonding agent.
Dental bridges take a bit of getting used to, and disruptions or changes to tastes are fairly ordinary. These will largely settle of their own accord (and with proper oral hygiene), but sometimes you'll need a bit of help from your dentist.