Immediate Dentures

Although we do our utmost to try and save your teeth, sometimes it becomes impractical to maintain heavily decayed and failing teeth. Sometimes there simply aren’t enough teeth to support fixed bridges or the cost and surgery of implant placement may exclude this as an option for you. In such cases, often we recommend immediate dentures. Immediate dentures are placed on the same day that your teeth are removed.

The benefits of immediate dentures include improving and keeping a natural appearance after having your teeth removed and getting you used to having the dentures in your mouth. Unfortunately it is a difficult task to make the dentures exactly as we want them and we cannot try them in your mouth before we deliver them to you.

We recommend that you are prepared to have the immediate dentures relined or completely remade after a period of three to six months. There will be three to four appointments required to make the dentures then an appointment will be scheduled with the surgeon to have your teeth removed and the dentures placed in your mouth.

You must be prepared for a significant life change when having immediate dentures made if you have not worn dentures before. You will find eating food difficult, your speech will also change and there may be a significant learning period before you become confident wearing your new dentures. We cannot guarantee that you will adapt quickly to the new set of dentures we propose to make.

After the teeth have been removed, you must not remove the dentures until we can check you the next day. After the follow-up appointment we will see you again in one week to adjust and ease the dentures.

After a few months, you will notice that your gums will shrink. Unfortunately this means that the dentures will become loose and require a reline. Sometimes the prosthodontist will reline your dentures with a soft liner (a soft material that acts like a cushion) if the dentures are rubbing on the gum causing ulceration. 

As with any new set of dentures there will be a period of time where you will be getting familiar with using them, this can range from days to months. At this time it is common to have areas on the new dentures which rub on the gum and cause ulceration.