Immediate Dentures

Immediate dentures are for people who still have teeth but need to have all teeth removed. This situation can be either in the top jaw, the bottom jaw or both top and bottom. Since most people do not want to go without any teeth in their mouth immediate dentures are placed in the persons’ mouth Immediately after the teeth are removed so the person never needs to go without teeth. Immediate dentures allow people to transition from their natural teeth to a denture without ever having to go without teeth.

The immediate denture process lasts approximately 8 months from the first appointment to the final endpoint. Initially the patient is assessed and educated about the whole immediate denture process. In most cases the patient will then see an oral surgeon who will be the one removing the teeth. Having the oral surgeon remove the teeth allows the patient to be much more comfortable by being sedated. Also, the oral surgeon can handle any medical emergency that may come up during the surgery.

The first step is to take impressions of the existing teeth so the dentures can be fabricated before the teeth are extracted. Then depending on the situation, a bite may need to be established that we accomplish with wax inside of the mouth. Next, we talk about how the patient would like the new teeth to look and what color the teeth will be, and photos are taken. Some patients like the teeth to be perfectly straight and others like to add some more natural characteristics to the make the teeth look as natural as possible. Once the teeth color and position have been established the dentures are mounted on an instrument that represents the mouth outside of the mouth. If the patient has teeth in their mouth unfortunately the dentures cannot be tried in the mouth to see what the dentures will look like. Depending on what teeth are missing in the mouth sometimes it is possible to try some of the teeth in the mouth to give the patient an idea of what the denture is going to look like. If the dentures cannot be tried in the patient’s mouth the patient comes in to see the dentures on the instrument that represents the mouth to get an idea of what the teeth will look like. Changes can be made at this time such as a color change, or tooth arrangement change before the dentures are finalized. Dr. Shannon uses all the information gathered to decided what is going to be the best position for the new teeth for both esthetics and function of the dentures. Once the approval from the patient is given on the look of the dentures they are finalized and finished for delivery.

While the immediate dentures are being fabricated a surgery date can be coordinated with the oral surgeon to have the teeth removed and the immediate dentures delivered inside of the mouth. Coordination between my office and the oral surgeon office is especially important so usually our office helps in making the surgery date appointment. On the surgery day the patient will be driven to the oral surgeon’s office and have the teeth removed. Immediately after teeth removal the patient is driven to my office where I deliver the dentures to the patient. When the patient arrives at my office it will usually take approximately 1.5 hours to deliver a full set of both upper and lower dentures. It takes about 1 hour if its only one denture. When the dentures are inserted into the mouth right after surgery there is a soft liner that goes inside of the dentures. The soft liner serves two main purposes. It adapts to exactly what is in the mouth at the time. The better the denture adapts to the tissue surface inside of the mouth the better the denture will stay in the mouth. The soft liner allows the inside part of the denture to adapt to exactly the way the tissue is at the time. Also, the soft liner is soft, so it feels much better to the tissue that just had surgery than a hard surface. Once the dentures are delivered the patient is sent home for rest and healing. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT THE PATIENT WEAR THE DENTURE FOR 48 HOURS AFTER DELIVERY. IT IS NECESSARY TO SLEEP WITH THE DENTURES FOR AT LEAST TWO NIGHTS. During this time, the dentures can be removed, and the mouth rinsed but they must be replaced in a short period of time. The dentures right after surgery help control the swelling and bleeding. If the dentures are taken out of the mouth and left out for a long period of time the tissue can swell and then the denture will not fit, and we may virtually have to start over. Patients are usually seen in approximately 1 week after the surgery to make any adjustments that may be necessary.

Once the teeth are extracted healing will start. As the inside of the mouth heals it also will start to shrink as the healing progresses so the denture that was delivered the day of surgery will not fit the same way 3 weeks later. There will be space between the denture and the tissue as healing continues making the denture loose in the mouth. At approximately 3 weeks a good bit of healing has taken place and no more sutures should be present in the mouth. At this time, the patient is brought in for a reline of the dentures. At the reline appointment more of the same soft lining material that was used at the initial delivery is added to the inside of the dentures re-adapting the inside of the dentures to the tissue architecture that is presently there tightening up the loose dentures. In approximately 3-4 more weeks the dentures will get loose again, and we bring the patient in again for another reline. We carry this reline process out for approximately 6 months. At 6 months is when we feel like all the healing from the surgery is complete. So, we bring the patient in for one last reline to re-adapt the inside of the denture to the patient’s present tissue architecture then the denture is taken for a day and a half and all that material we have been adapting over the six-month period is turned into the final hard acrylic dentures. At this point the dentures process is done except for any necessary adjustment appointments that may be necessary if the dentures are possibly causing a sore area inside of the mouth.