Relining Dentures

When teeth have been extracted, the body will slowly resorb the bone that once held the teeth. When dentures are made, a mold is made of the mouth and then the denture is constructed. But as the years go by, the bone continues to erode away while the plastic stays the same. This causes gaps to form between the dentures and the gums, which will eventually cause the dentures to become loose and ill-fitting. The good news is that the plastic can be relined without having to make an entirely new denture.

Hollowing out of the inside of denture.

To reline a denture, the dentist will hollow out the inside of the denture without affecting the teeth. An adhesive is painted on and the inside of the denture is filled with an impression paste. This is inserted into the mouth and it sets, thus making a mold of the new form of the gums. A lab tech then makes a model by pouring plaster into the mold. He then cuts aways the old plastic and packs new plastic between the new model and the denture teeth. Voila – a well-fitting denture, almost good as new. This procedure can be done much more inexpensively than constructing new dentures. It can help restore a denture to its original fit.

Relining Dentures

Over the years, dentures will become looser and looser. This is not because the denture is changing but because the gums are shrinking. Alveolar bone (the bone that holds the teeth in) is very labile bone. That means that it is constantly changing to meet the current conditions. This is an important property due to the constant changes in the forces while chewing with natural teeth. However, the sole purpose of alveolar bone is to hold the teeth in, so once a tooth is removed, it thinks that its job is done and begins to resorb. When the teeth are first lost, there is usually a fair amount of bone left behind, unless there was severe periodontal (gum) disease present. However, as time goes on, the bone will continue to erode until eventually, there will not be much left. Since the bone shrinks, dentures must be periodically relined.

Impression material inside denture

To reline a denture, impression material is placed into the actual denture to make a mold of the changed gums. A technician will then grind out the old plastic and process new plastic to perfectly match the present situation. This is a much less expensive way to make an old set of dentures fit as good as new, and avoids the great expense of an entirely new set.