What are immediate dentures?
The most disturbing thought for patients who have been advised to remove their front teeth is that they will have to walk out of the dental clinic into the world with no teeth!
In the conventional technique of making dentures, you get your teeth removed, and wait for a few weeks for the gums to heal. After this, the dentist can start the procedure for denture making.
It is a long, frustrating wait during which the patient feels awkward to socialize. Not only does the patient have to deal with a toothless smile, there is difficulty in eating and talking as well.
The simple solution for this problem is an ‘immediate denture’ - a denture that is placed immediately after removing the front teeth.
What are the advantages?
- You don’t have to go without the front teeth even for a single day.
- Normal functions like eating and speaking are not affected.
- The denture acts like a bandage and protects the wound after tooth extraction and helps the gums to heal faster.
- It can be made for cases where few teeth have to be removed or all teeth have to be removed.
What are the disadvantages?
- You don’t get to try out the front teeth in wax trial denture. But this rarely causes a problem. Most of the times the final results are pretty good even without a trial.
- The number of follow up visits are a little more than usual since the denture needs adjustments as the healing of gums progresses.
How is the immediate denture made?
- The measurements for making dentures, like the shape of the gums and height of the face are recorded before the front teeth are removed.
- All teeth except the front teeth which have not yet been removed are set in a trial wax denture. This denture is then tried out in the patient’s mouth to check for the fit and the teeth positions.
- Next, the front teeth that have to be removed are cut out from the model on which the trial denture is made. The model is shaped according to the expected shape of the gums after healing of teeth sockets.
- The artificial front teeth are placed on the model of the wax trial denture in the space created by cutting out the teeth on the model.
- The final denture is processed from the trial denture and kept ready for insertion at the time of teeth removal.
- The front teeth are removed and the denture is inserted in the same appointment.