Denture Insertion

Finished Dentures

The big day has finally come, after all of the impression and try-in appointments, the actual dentures will be delivered. Upon first inserting the dentures into the mouth, they may feel tight and foreign. Sometimes, there are little spicules of plastic that come from voids from air bubbles in the model. These can easily be removed. The next thing to check is the bite. Even though the bite is verified during the try-in appointment, there are processing errors that creep into the plastic which can cause the bite to be off. Once the bite has been adjusted, then the cosmetics can be checked to make sure that they didn’t change from the try-in. Then a final check is done by moving the lips and tongue to make certain that the denture does not become dislodged. Now it’s time to take them home and try them out for real. It is important to not have unrealistic expectations. For new denture wearers, one must understand that they will not function the same as natural teeth. The chewing power is not near as good and they can become dislodged by certain movements of foods. For those who have worn a previous denture, the new denture will not feel the same as the old one. It’s just like getting a new pair of shoes. Even though the old pair has holes in them and are falling off your feet, the new pair usually feels very different. But when one walks in the new shoes for a few days, they will feel totally natural. This is the same with dentures. Sometimes you have to force yourself to wear the new set because they feel so foreign, but after a few days, they should function naturally.

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.