The Denture Process Explained
Your initial assessment
Your initial assessment at your dentist is aimed at seeing whether you are going to be a suitable candidate to receive dentures. Your experienced dental clinic and dentist about dentures and repairs will go through your dental and health history, making sure to inspect all the tissues in your mouth. They will do a full examination to determine whether dentures will be a good choice for your body – and gauging whether you’ll be happy with dentures over other forms of dental prosthetic.
The dentist will discuss with you a plan of action and outline the costs involved along the way. If you have any partial teeth or root issues, they will determine whether dental surgery is needed before your denture fitting and the costs involved for this also.
Obtaining the first impressions
As far as first impressions go, these are pretty important! Taking your primary impressions for your mouth means going in there with a particular compound and getting the shape of our mouth and gums right. Usually, this compound is made from silicone or alginate. A dentist will need to be very careful when taking the impression to ensure that no air bubbles form in the compound.
There may also be a second impression take from within a tray if the first impression isn’t exact enough for the dentist’s liking. This is to do with the muscles of the mouth because everyone is different. You might be instructed to make strange shapes with your mouth to ensure everything is fitting in the right place.
There are a number of things that go into creating the perfect set of dentures for your mouth and the dentist will be thinking about things such as the size, shape, and position of your lips, where your bite lies (more difficult if you have no teeth at all), this will have to be recreated, as well as the positioning of your teeth and the height of your dentures.
Getting the bite right
When you have no teeth, it can be quite difficult to get the bite of your dentures just right. This might include jaw and tongue exercises, etc. The dentist may take some time to try and figure out the correct bite for you.
After they’ve correctly measured your bite, they’ll work out the colour, shape and size of your new false teeth. If you want anything out of the ordinary from your dentures at this point in time, this is when you’ll need to put in a request from your dentist. Perhaps you used to have a little gap between your front teeth that you’d like mimicked again. Now is the time to ask.
Fitting appointment
In your follow up appointment you’ll get to try your new dentures. Often they aren’t exactly right the first time and you’ll need to come back for more tries. This is perfectly normal – denture fitting is as much of an art as it is a science. Once you and your dentist are happy with the fit, some finishing touches will be added before you’re allowed to take your new dentures home.
Before you take your new set of dentures, the dentist will run through thoroughly how you need to take care of them at home, as well as provide a detailed instruction sheet so you don’t get too lost. They should also at this stage book you in for your follow up appointment for later to ensure that everything is going along as it should be.
Getting dentures isn’t scary – but the process can take a little while. Be patient, and remember that good things will always come to those who wait!
