Immediate Dentures

Suppose, for instance, that you have eight (8) remaining upper teeth. These teeth are, unfortunately, poor and cannot be utilized in any way to support a new denture. If you were to have a traditional or Post-Extraction Denture made, it would be necessary to have all of these teeth extracted first, the bone and gums would have to heal and then a denture could be fabricated.

This process could take several months, if not longer, and for that time period you would have to go around without any teeth. As an alternative to having you go around toothless while the bone and gums heal, we utilize an Immediate Denture technique. This involves taking impressions of your mouth while your teeth are still present. At the same time, when your teeth are extracted, we have a denture ready to be inserted by your dentist. In this way, you never have to walk around without teeth.

Immediate Dentures do present certain limitations of which you should be aware.
Since we are unable to try in the denture prior to extracting your teeth, certain aesthetic compromises may have to be made. This should not present any significant problem, however, and your aesthetic result is usually more than satisfactory or at least better than what you had.

Since our goal is for you never to be without teeth, your dentist will be inserting your new denture immediately after the extraction of your remaining teeth. This may seem odd, but it is perfectly normal. Typically, after the extraction of teeth, there may be some swelling. By placing your denture in immediately, the swelling can be kept to a minimum. If you did not place the denture immediately, the swelling that occurs might not allow you to wear your denture until the swelling subsided.

Our denture professionals recommend the following:

• It is very important that you follow the post-operative instructions of your dentist and DP very carefully. Your follow up appointment is very important. You must wear your new immediate denture for two (2) or three (3) days, or such time as your dentist instructs you, after the surgery, without removing it. This will help to manage the bleeding and swelling.
• You must follow the oral hygiene instructions provided by your dentist and DP. This will usually include frequent rinsing of the mouth with salty water. This helps control harmful bacteria thereby permitting healing of the bone and gums.
• In order to compensate for the rapid changes that occur during healing, a temporary denture lining may be used to adapt the fit surface of the denture to the present size and shape of the supportive tissues. The duration of the effectiveness of the lining depends upon when the lining is done. There is a fee for this service.
• There may be other adjustments to the denture that are necessary to help keep them comfortable during the healing period. You should consult your DP. Experience shows that soreness is the greatest handicap to denture comfort.
• Once healing has occurred, after approximately four (4) to six (6) months, you will need either a reline of your immediate denture or the fabrication of an entirely new denture. If a new one is to be made, we will then be able to make any aesthetic and phonetic changes that you want within the limits of denture prosthodontics. If a new denture is to be made, you will then be able to use the immediate denture as a spare ( emergency ) denture. This can sure come in handy if your new denture should break and need to be repaired. Failure to reline an immediate denture can cause discomfort and may allow hyperplasic tissue to grow against the denture into the space created by the shrinkage of the bone and gums.  Hyperplastic tissue can become painful.

Dentures are NOT an alternative to teeth  -  they are an alternative to NO TEETH.  The best made denture can rarely provide the biting and chewing ability of natural healthy teeth which are anchored into the bone. Some studies put the success rate for a person’s ability to adapt to wearing and eating with dentures as low as 75%. At DentuCare Denture Professionals our success rate is around 80%.  Edentulism (no teeth) is a very serious disability and just like any other physical disability, different people have different levels of tolerance.  If you are not successful with dentures, you may have to consider implants, which can offer success rates of up to 95%.

We appreciate that you may not wish to leave your dentures out when sleeping because of  dignity or medical conditions such as sleep apnea, so it is vital that you thoroughly clean your denture and your supporting tissue of biofilm with a soft toothbrush (mechanically) and a solution such as mouthwash or saline water (chemically), Your DP suggests that you leave the dentures in water to prevent any warping or cracking. Discuss this issue with your DP and read our brochure “Caring for Your Denture” for more advice.