Afraid of Loose Dentures?

So your loose dentures are not what you’d hoped for; they doesn’t stay put when you chew a steak and just when you’re having fun and laugh out loud, it moves and gives you that horrid feeling feeling “are they going to fall out!”

That’s right, we really do understand and have heard the same story from many patients over the years so you’re not on your own.  The good news is there’s good news!

One answer to your problem is to use dental implants to provide either retention for your denture (in other words keep it in your mouth) or to both retain and support your denture (using a bar to both support the denture and to keep it in the mouth).  The last option means that the denture can be smaller and generally is a far more acceptable and natural-feeling prosthesis.  Dentures can be provided that are screwed into a bar and are generally known as Fixed-bridgework or they may be retained on the bar but in a way that allows the patient to remove them for cleaning.  This is known as Fixed-Removable Prosthesis.  The enormous benefit of the last of these is that it is so much easier for the patient to keep the implants clean and thereby avoid gum disease around the implants that may lead to their loss and failure of the prosthesis.

People find these solutions allow them to finally live normally and almost forget they don’t have their own natural teeth.  These High-Tec dental prostheses don’t move, they feel normal and they look just like natural teeth.  Only you and the dentist will know!

Here are the simple stages to move on from the loose, unacceptable denture that causes you to have low confidence and low self-esteem to become the old confident you.  It’s really not so difficult.

For more information on implants check out the various articles on the subject on our Blog and later in our media centre.

The Stages to achieve firm reliable replacement teeth:

1. Have the old denture analyzed to see what changes need to be made to correct anyin-built faults.  Any large changes may need a new denture to be made before going onto the implant placement stages.  Hence stage 2 may or may not be necessary.
2. Make a set of corrected dentures from which planning is carried out to identify the correct angles and positioning of implants at the correct sites to support a denture or fixed prosthesis.
3. Conduct planning after having taken a Cone Beam CT Scan to obtain 3D imaging.
4. Manufacture a surgical guide to ensure correct positioning of the individual implants into the jaw or jaws.
5. Place the chosen number of implants as planned.  Leave them to heal in the bone and for the time being continue to wear you denture.
6. After a healing period for the bone to grow onto the implants’ surface, impressions are taken using a very accurate material.   Various measurements need to be recorded including a recording of the jaw positions, tooth colour and a measurement of the vertical dimension.
7. The denture is returned to the patient to wear while laboratory work is continued.
8. On return from the laboratory a “confirmation jig” is tried in and screwed down on the implants.  This confirms the impressions were 100% accurate and that it is safe to base all the manufacturing processes on that impression.  Once it fits passively it returns to the Lab.
9. The first stage of the denture is made of an acrylic base-plate covered with wax and bears the denture teeth.  This is “tried-in” to check everything is right in terms of measurements and tooth position and that it fits passively on the implants.
10. The Try-in is returned to the laboratory. When the prosthesis returns we will fit it.

It is surprisingly easy to move from your loose denture to a firm natural feeling set of teeth to chew with and once again to be able to laugh out loud without any concern or embarrassment!   If this sounds like what you would like for yourself we can arrange a consultation for you.

contact the friendly team at NQ Surgical Dentistry today on (07) 4725 1656 or call in to see us at 183 Kings Rd, Pimlico QLD 4812