Have you lost – or will you be losing – all of your natural teeth in one or both of your arches? If so, a complete denture may be a good fit for you. Complete dentures replace all missing natural teeth in an arch, restoring appearance, and preventing any remaining teeth in an opposing archway from shifting and improving chewing and speaking ability. A complete denture is a removable prosthesis supported by the soft and hard tissues in the oral cavity. There are three types of complete dentures: conventional, immediate and implant retained over-dentures.

Conventional Dentures:

Conventional dentures are fabricated and inserted into the mouth well after the natural teeth have been extracted and the soft and hard tissues have healed around the extraction sites. The healing and initial bone shrinkage takes approximately six to twelve months. Keep in mind, however, that although the extraction sites have healed the soft and hard tissues will continue to shrink once the teeth are removed affecting the ongoing fit of the prosthesis. Therefore, it is important that with any type of prosthesis fabricated regular checkups are completed to check for fit of the removable prosthesis.

… it is important that with any type of prosthesis fabricated regular checkups are completed …

Immediate Dentures:

Immediate dentures are fabricated prior to extraction of any remaining natural teeth in the mouth. Impressions and measurements are taken and models are fabricated with existing natural teeth still in the oral cavity. Complete immediate dentures are then fabricated based on the impressions and measurements taken, but, are unable to be tried in prior to extractions to make any adjustments because the natural teeth are in the way. Therefore, it is difficult to have the denture turn out exactly as desired by the patient. This means that the first time the patient can see the finished denture is after the teeth have been pulled and the dentist immediately places the denture in the mouth. Sometimes the immediate denture will look and function great while other times the bite and appearance may be off. At this point of placement, changes are unable to be made on the immediate denture in regards to the bite and or the appearance. For this reason, immediate dentures are considered to be temporary prosthesis as a new one may be required once healing occurs if the appearance and or bite are off.

… immediate dentures are considered to be temporary prosthesis.

Immediate dentures provide the patient with false teeth the same day their remaining natural teeth are extracted so they do not have to go a day without teeth and they act as a compression bandage to help with healing. However, they are difficult to predict the outcome of without having a fitting appointment and they require many ongoing adjustments as the soft and hard tissues continue to heal and shrink after extractions. The healing and initial bone shrinkage takes around six to twelve months. Within this time there will be a lot of back and forth adjustment appointments to try and get the best fit out of the immediate denture as possible which will include temporary relines and tissue conditioners to help ease the transition of surgery to dentures. Once the initial bone shrinkage occurs (approximately six to twelve months after extractions) a more permanent reline or entirely new complete dentures will be fabricated depending on the fit and appearance of the temporary immediate denture.

Implant Retained Over-Dentures:

For implant retained over-dentures, an oral surgeon places multiple implants—cylindrical and or tapered posts typically made out of titanium—surgically into the jaw bone (if the patient is a suitable candidate). During the healing process, the implants should fuse with the bone which may take approximately six to twelve months of time depending on the individual. During this time the patient would continue on with everyday life and a set of temporary complete dentures made prior to the implant placement would be retrofitted to house the dental implants, but, not load them with unnecessary force as the healing process occurs. Once the implants have fused with the jaw bone abutments are placed on the implant heads to connect the implant to either the temporary retrofitted complete dentures (if implant placement and tooth position aligned and function and aesthetics were good) or a newly fabricated implant retained over-denture would be made in order to engage the implant abutments and better secure the over-denture in the mouth. Potential benefits of implant retained over-dentures: more stability than a conventional denture, improved speaking ability, improved chewing ability means a greater variety of food can be eaten, potential that less pink acrylic material will be required to support the denture.