Getting Dentures Soon? Here’s What to Expect

The denture ads you may remember from your youth have come back to haunt you. Are you really going to be faced with false teeth that slip, slide, and require lots of goopy goo to hold them in place?

Human beings have been dealing with missing teeth and adequate replacements for thousands of years. In fact, the first known dentures were fashioned about 5,000 years ago in Mexico, and were probably made of wolf teeth.

While dentures have been made from everything from animal teeth to corpses’ teeth, today’s dentures are custom-crafted from high-quality porcelain and resins for optimal fit, comfort, appearance, and function.

At Advanced Oral Dynamics in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Dr. Tejas Patel and our expert team provide high-quality, advanced dental restorations, including state-of-the-art dentures. Are you ready for dentures? Here’s what to expect.

Choose your dentures

What type of dentures would you like? That’s right: You have a choice. You can choose from a variety of denture types and materials. You can even mix dental implants with dentures for an extra-secure or permanent fix. Choose from:

• Partial dentures for several consecutive missing teeth
• Full dentures for when you’re missing all or most of an arch of teeth
• Implant-supported dentures that secure your dentures to jaw

Partial dentures are similar to a dental bridge: They’re secured to the teeth that surround your gap. However, unlike a bridge, partial dentures clip on like a retainer.

Choose your materials

You also need to choose the materials from which the lab will craft your dentures. Each comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages:

Acrylic resin

Less expensive and lighter than porcelain dentures, acrylic resin dentures are made from a type of plastic. They tend to fit tighter and feel more comfortable than porcelain dentures. 

The disadvantage is that they also tend to wear out more quickly, which may change your bite over time. You may need to replace them every five to eight years to protect your bite and the temporomandibular joints (TMJs) of your jaw. 

Porcelain

Porcelain dentures are significantly more expensive and heavier than acrylic resin dentures. However, they’re also significantly longer lasting. 

Choose your timeline

In addition, you can choose from conventional dentures or immediate dentures. With conventional dentures we wait six to eight weeks — after your gums heal — to place your dentures. They take several weeks to settle into your mouth.

Immediate dentures are placed directly after your teeth are removed. We create the molds the day before the extraction, so your teeth are ready as soon as the procedure is over. 

What it’s like to get your dentures

To ensure a good fit and natural look, we take molds of your remaining teeth and your gums. We send these to a lab that crafts your dentures to look like your natural teeth. They also make sure the dentures fit snugly.

Partial or full denture procedure

Whether you need a partial or full set, the procedure for non-implant-supported dentures is the same. We take physical impressions of your mouth, which we send to a nearby dental lab. 

When your new dentures arrive, we place them in your mouth. They may need to be adjusted as your gums heal. In a few years, you may need to have them relined, due to natural jaw bone atrophy.

You can clean them with a soft toothbrush. Place them in a soaking solution overnight. You may need to use dental adhesive to guarantee a tighter, more secure fit.

Implant-supported denture procedure

If you don’t want to have to remove and clean your dentures several times a day or soak them at night, you could consider implant-supported dentures. If you’re a candidate, we place titanium posts (artificial tooth roots) in your jaw bone. The dentures snap to the posts and can be designed to be removable or permanent.

Preparation

We first take dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans to examine the health of your gums and jaw bone. If you lack sufficient jawbone mass, you may be a good candidate for bone grafting. While this procedure can make implants possible, the bone regrowth process can also add weeks or months to your treatment timeline.

Implant surgery

If you have a healthy jaw bone, or if your grafts have healed, we surgically insert the titanium posts that will support your dentures. Then, we give you a temporary denture to wear while the implants fuse to your bone.

Overdenture placement

When the titanium posts are securely fused to your jaw, we take impressions of your arches. Once the lab crafts your dentures, we snap them into place. 

Daily care

Your implant-supported dentures are cared for like regular teeth: Brush them twice a day as if they were normal teeth. Floss underneath the dentures with floss threaders, interproximal brushes, or other specialized dental cleaning tools.

Ready to restore your smile? 

Are you ready for new dentures? Advanced Oral Dynamics can help. Give us a call today, or use our online booking feature to schedule an appointment with Dr. Patel at your convenience.