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Question:
Immediate and Permanent Dentures: I am very confused about the difference.
If the Immediate dentures are used, are they the same dentures that become the permanent denture after realignments and adjustments or does a new denture have to be bought? ... Visitor from PA
Answer:
There are several ways to progress with an immediate denture. When someone has all their natural teeth extracted for what ever reason and have their first ever upper or lower denture placed, it is known as an "immediate" denture.
Immediate dentures are usually more of an investment for the patient due to the fact that more time and effort is going to be needed by the dentist and dental team to adjust and reline this new denture.
After teeth in either jaw are removed, the jawbone will naturally shrink back and resorb a bit, thus making the new "immediate" denture a bit loose and wobbly and less retentive. To help tighten these loose dentures the dentist or a lab can reline and adjust these same dentures.
Many patients can get accustomed to these relined dentures and do fine. Also, many new denture wearers elect to have a new set of dentures made once their jawbone has healed and the bone shrinkage has stopped. The original relined immediate dentures can now be kept as a spare set in case they are needed in the future.
A very important concern to think about for the future prevention of continuing jawbone shrinkage and denture retention problems is the use of even a few titanium dental implants. Dental implants are placed in the jawbone and act like natural tooth roots to help hold in the denture and to stimulate the bone of the jaw so it does not resorb away from pressure necrosis. This is especially true for the bottom jaw because unlike the top maxillary jaw and roof of the mouth that can form a tight seal with good suction, a lower denture has to balance on the lower jawbone.
Many denture wearers have most of their problems with their lower dentures due to jawbone shrinkage and not being able to get the same suction and retention like their upper dentures. The amazing fact is that having as few as 2-4 dental implants in the lower bottom jaw will help prevent future jawbone loss and keep the lower denture tight and unbelievably retentive and solid.
As in everything else in life, there are bargain basement economy dentures that many patients get along with well and more advanced cosmetic makeover dentures that start with trial dentures to work out all the fine cosmetic and phonetic(speech) details.
Once refined, a specialized cosmetic makeover dental laboratory fabricates the final gorgeous cosmetic makeover dentures based on the guidelines obtained from the trial dentures. Once the patient receives their new natural-looking cosmetic smile, the trial dentures are kept as spares.
Cosmetic dentists who have a special talent to produce these drop dead gorgeous makeover dentures are seeing more and more baby boomers and seniors who want to look and feel more youthful with natural looking cosmetic dentures.
The unique thing about these advanced dentures is the time and skill-level of the laboratory artists who create them. Special care is taken to make them look like a natural smile and not like a typical picket fence-like dentures.
Realistic blood vessels and tooth root formations are added to the surface of the dentures as well as "orange peel" stippling of the outer surface of the dentures to mimic healthy normal looking gum tissue.
The teeth in the upper front are vibrant and natural looking porcelain teeth that are custom arranged to fit the gender, and facial size and shape of the specific patient, as these are not off the shelf cookie-cutter dentures.
ComfortableDental.com
Ron Briglia, DMD
Chester County Medical Building
600 East Marshall Street, Suite 201
West Chester PA 19380
(610) 692-4440
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