Immediate Dentures

Immediate dentures (sometimes called temporary dentures) are actually made before the front natural teeth are extracted. When we remove your front teeth, you walk out with false teeth. Generally, most patients do not complain about much pain after their teeth are extracted and the immediate denture is inserted. For the first week or so, the denture remains stable and reasonably retained, but it will eventually need to be relined.

Making your Immediate Denture
Appointment 1: Full exam of mouth done including teeth, gums, jaws, soft tissues, bite, etc. If there are periodontal issues or if any teeth have decay, these problems are addressed during this appointment as well. It is important to address the health of your teeth prior to making the denture. Prior approval is sent to your insurance company, usually taking three to five weeks to be processed.

Appointment 2: Our dentists, Dr. Simran Kaur and Dr. Matthew Garcia, will remove any back teeth that need to be extracted, since those take longer to heal. All teeth that will be saved should be restored to provide the most accurate fit. Extraction sites in the back of the mouth must be allowed to heal prior to denture impressions.

Appointment 3: An accurate impression is made of the teeth and supporting gum tissues at Willowdaile Cosmetic and Family.

Appointment 4: Bite records are taken. Sometimes we will have the teeth set in wax at this point to make sure the bite is correct and the tooth color selected is right for you.

Appointment 5: The teeth are extracted, and a prefabricated denture is inserted directly over the previous tooth sites. Your denture is tried in and adjusted to fit. You may return in 24 to 48 hours to adjust any sore areas that develop or as needed until the partial is comfortable.

Problems Associated with Immediate Dentures
If the patient has more than one or two remaining front top teeth, they will usually prevent a “try-in” or test of the immediate dentures. The denture teeth are placed in about the same position as the natural teeth before extraction. Even though the denture teeth will be straight and clean, their position may not be ideal because there is no way to preview them as we can with a standard denture. For this reason, not everyone will be happy with the final appearance of their appliance. Instead, patients may prefer to choose a different restoration.

After the natural teeth are extracted and the immediate denture is inserted, patients may quickly lose bone mass that used to hold the natural teeth in place. By the end of three weeks, enough bone can be lost that there may be a large amount of space between parts of the denture and the healing gums. This leads to looseness and sore spots which must be treated frequently. If needed, we can do a temporary “soft” reline at about one month after the extraction or insertion date. This is a simple way to tighten the denture against the gums. Since the material is a bit rubbery and frequently medicated, it makes the denture much more comfortable until enough healing has taken place to do a permanent “hard” reline.

At the end of six months, the immediate denture must be relined with the same acrylic that the denture base was made from originally. Again, we will send your insurance company a pre-approval. The longer you wait, the longer you can expect the denture to remain tight before another reline is needed. The hard reline is a separate procedure and the cost is NOT included in the original price of the immediate denture. Because of this, the immediate denture ends up costing a bit more than the standard denture when the cost of the reline is taken into account. The hard reline marks the official transition of the immediate denture into a standard denture.

Post Extraction and Delivery Instructions

Do not remove your denture for 48 hours. Your gums will swell under the denture, and you will not be able to get them back in once removed. The dentures act as a bandage for your healing sockets.
While you are still numb, take 600 mg of ibuprofen, Tylenol® or prescribed pain medication to help reduce swelling and increase comfort after your extractions.
Cold, soft foods are soothing and help decrease future swelling. Avoid alcohol and smoking.
Some swelling is to be expected after extractions. To help reduce swelling and stop bleeding, hold an ice pack next to where teeth have been extracted. 15 minutes on, and 15 minutes off.

Several times a day (after the first 48 hours) place a teaspoon of salt into one cup of warm (not hot) water, remove denture and rinse mouth gently for five minutes. Continue this habit until the site has healed.
Remember, the cleaner you keep your wounds and dentures, the quicker you will heal.
For the first one or two weeks, taking up to 1000 mg of vitamin C a day will promote and aid in your healing.
A denture adhesive will be necessary to help hold the denture in place.
If you develop any sore spots, call our office at 919-479-5800 so we can take care of them.

Caring for Your Immediate Denture:

Take your denture out and place in a container with water and a bit of Listerine®. This will take pressure off your gums and keep the denture from drying out and warping. Be sure to clean the appliance before soaking.
Do not soak the denture appliances in hot water, since this can warp the material. Also, be gentle with the fragile plastic to avoid damaging the appliance.
Regularly clean your dentures using dish detergent or toothpaste after meals and before going to sleep. This will keep it clean and help avoid staining.
Regularly brush and floss any natural teeth while the appliance is removed.
Occasionally place your immediate denture in a soaking solution for dentures.
Keep on top of your recall visits so our dentists can check your teeth and appliances. Also call us at 919-479-5800 if any issues appear.

It will take you some time to get used to your new denture. Eating and speaking will seem awkward at first, but with time you will learn how to use your denture. Each person is different in how fast they adapt, so don’t worry if it seems like it is taking a while for you and don’t forget to wear them! Give them two weeks and your mouth will start to adjust.

Follow-Up Care
When patients have missing teeth, the gums and boney tissue of the jaw can shrink up to 1/32 of an inch. This become much more pronounced after an extraction. Due to this erosion, you should plan to have your dentures and oral tissues evaluated by us every six months. Our dentists will help you determine when this is needed. Wearing dentures that do not fit correctly can cause further erosion, tissue loss and even disease. Exams and checkups are also needed for dentures that fit correctly.

Six-Month Appointment:

Update medical history
Evaluate the look, bite and function of the dentures
Examine soft tissues for sores or signs of irritation
Oral cancer screening
Tooth cleaning, evaluation of dentures
Clean and disinfect appliance
Relining of appliance

Yearly Follow-Up
Same as six-month appointment. In addition to annual appointments, our dentists may need to see certain patients more frequently. Rather than feeling inconvenienced by this, many patients actually enjoy having these additional visits for peace of mind and a nice clean denture.

Call 919-479-5800 today for your denture checkup in Durham, North Carolina!