As a profession committed to positive patient outcomes, we need to ensure that the percentage of patients happy with dental experience continues to rise.
As we get older our dental treatment becomes more complex and multi-faceted, gums recede etc. – we are wearing out! The assessment and planning of treatment can mitigate some of these issues and then explaining this clearly and sensitively to the patent will help manage expectations and reduce anxiety.

Why? and what are my options?

These can occur for a variety of reasons

Shrinkage after extraction of teeth

You must expect shrinkage to occur when an immediate denture (after teeth extraction) has been fitted. When the situation has stabilised reassess possible options to improve - realign or a remake of the said prosthesis Immediate dentures should be deemed as temporary in most cases.

There are two key stages in denture creation - Impression and then Jaw relationship. If either of these are not correct, it doesn't matter what your dentures look like, you will quite probably have problems or issues that will need sorting.

...are painful, uncomfortable, loose, ill fitting and have no suction

This sounds like an issue at the Impression stage, where an inaccurate mould of your mouth was taken. To resolve this we need to retake the impression and sometimes take a secondary impression, using a customised tray designed specifically for your mouth.

This is not the easiest topic to discuss; we shall now talk about your 12 front teeth.
Upper and lower front teeth.
Size, shape and colour positions - these are very very important, we all take this for granted, until it looks wrong. Basic lines positions to remember - centre line (black), incisor edge line , smile line (green) meaning gum and gingival margin and canine lines (red), these four positions are the basic rules of setting up teeth, in your appearance.

There are many denture adhesives on the market designed to ‘grip’ your dentures, or partial dentures to the tissue of your mouth. For legal reasons we cannot use brand names but please read on.

These are in certain circumstances a very very useful product, particularly if you wish to have that bit of extra confidence for that special dinner or occasion BUT they are NOT a permanent or long term solution to a dental problem.

Discuss your options

There is a misconception that implants are the best solution for EVERYONE in EVERY circumstance. This is not the case and it requires every patient to be individually assessed and the best options recommended. Theses options include conventional crown and bridge work with partial chrome cobalt dentures (to fill the gaps), normal denture prosthesis or immediate dentures (extraction and fit). We look forward to discussing your dental options with you in the near future.

August September, have been my two busiest months for denture repairs for years, I can give no simple answer why.
So I have been reflecting on the comments made to me,

it was only a nut in the muesli
the Sunday pork crackling
that hard crusty roll from so-and-so
the choccy bar from the fridge was too hard,
the ice lollies that I made and of course don't forget good old toast.

Superglue and Denture Repairs

Hello Reader, I have been repairing dentures now for more years than I want to admit to.

3 words that refer to my skill base and words that I hope every denture wearer understands.