Complete Dentures
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Complete or Full Dentures are made when all of your natural teeth are missing. You can have a full denture on your upper or lower jaw, or both. |
How are dentures made?
We will take an
impression of your jaw, along with measurements of how your jaws relate to one
another and how much space is between them (bite relationship). The color (shade)
of your teeth will also be determined either from your natural teeth or a
denture you may already be wearing. The impression, bite and shade are given
to the dental laboratory so a denture can be made just for you.
The dental laboratory makes a mold (model) of your jaw, places the teeth in a
wax base, and carves the wax to the exact form wanted in the finished denture.
Usually a "wax try-in" of the denture will be done at our office so any
adjustments can be done before the denture is completed.
The denture is completed at the dental laboratory using the "lost wax"
technique. A mold of the wax-up denture is made, the wax is removed and the
remaining space is filled with pink plastic in dough form. The mold is then
heated to harden the plastic. The denture is then polished and ready for the
patient to wear.
Wearing Your Dentures
It
usually takes a little while to get used to wearing a full denture. There may
also be minor adjustments that we will make to fine tune the fit of
your denture. After a few weeks, you be more at
ease and your gums adapted to wearing a full denture.
It is very important that you wear your denture every day. If you don't wear
your denture for an extended period of time, the denture may no longer fit as
well as it should.
Over time, your mouth will change. The bone and gum areas may shrink or recede,
causing the space between the jaws to change. Because your denture keeps its
shape, adjustments will be needed to keep your denture fitting properly.
Always consult us rather than trying to fix the problem yourself. Trying to
adjust them yourself will only cause more difficulties and what may have
started out as a small problem could easily become a bigger one.
How to Care for Your
Denture
The
most important thing to remember is to visit our office regularly, and follow
our instructions.
1. Rinse your denture thoroughly after every meal.
2. Clean your denture thoroughly at least once a day, using a toothbrush and a non-abrasive denture cleanser. Don't use alcohol, abrasive cleaners, bleaches, whiteners or boiling water to clean or soak your dentures.
3. Complete denture normally should not be worn at night. They should be removed and stored in normal tap water or in denture cleaning solution. Dentures can dry out and distort if they are left outside a moist environment.
IMPORTANT:
Don't make adjustments
or repairs yourself. Always contact us immediately if there is any change in
the comfort or fit of your denture.