Denture Impressions – Preliminary Steps

The construction of a full denture starts with an impression of the gums. The dentist must first check to see if there are any suspicious lesions that could be a malignancy. X-rays should be taken to make certain that there are no tumors inside the bone. The dentist must also make certain that there are no bony undercuts which would prevent the denture from properly seating or flabby gum ridges which would not provide a stable surface for the denture to function. Any of these problems would require surgical intervention plus a healing period before final impressions could be made. The dentist must also check the condition of the gum tissue itself.

Maxillary (upper) gum tissue

If the gums are swollen, red, and inflamed especially due to sleeping in the dentures or from smoking, then steps must be taken to relieve the inflammation. Many times, merely leaving the dentures out while sleeping for a week or two will allow the gums to heal. In more resistant cases, a tissue conditioner can be applied to the current denture. This conditioner is a resilient liner. Its soft nature can give the gums a chance to heal. Once all of the preliminary steps have been taken, the final impression can be made.

Immediate Denture

A dentist’s goal is to save teeth, however, if there is too much decay or gum disease or the financial situation is not good enough to properly restore the teeth, then the fateful decision must be made to remove the remaining teeth. There are two ways of handling the construction of the first set of dentures. One method is to wait for one full month to allow the gums to heal and shrink. At this point, an impression (or mold) is made of the gums and denture construction begins. The other method is an immediate denture. An immediate denture is constructed before the teeth are removed. The advantage of that is that the denture is inserted on the day of the surgery. This way the patient never has to go around without teeth. Unfortunately, there are compromises. There is no way to do a try-in to check the cosmetic arrangement of the teeth, the function, or phonetics (ability to speak with the dentures). It’s possible that the resulting pre-made denture could be far enough off that it may have to be remade. The other issue is that the gums will shrink after surgery, so the denture will have to be relined after about six months. This way the inner part of the plastic of the denture will match the new healed gums. An immediate denture would at least save one from the embarrassment of being without teeth for any length of time.