What Are Immediate Dentures?

Discussing dental problems such as tooth repair and dentures is seldom on most people’s list of fun things to do. Unfortunately, dental problems are a fact of life. A cavity is causing tooth pain and has to be drilled and filled, a tooth’s root gets infected and requires a root canal or a tooth gets broken in a sporting event and a crown is required.

One of the most impactful dental procedures, though, is when a patient’s teeth have to be removed completely. What do you do when this happens? What options are available?

Regular versus immediate dentures

In many regards, regular and immediate dentures are the same. They are both created to be a replacement for removed teeth. They are both prosthetic devices that are worn to imitate the original teeth. There are a few differences, however.

• Regular false teeth are not made until after a patient’s teeth have been removed. Generally, the dentist allows the patient’s gums to heal before the molding and fitting are completed. The dentures themselves often take days or weeks to be ready. This delay means patients must go without teeth for an extended period of time
• Immediate dentures are molded before the patient has their teeth removed. This allows the dentist to more easily match the teeth’s shape and color. These prosthetics are available the same day the teeth are removed. While regular dentures require learning new speech patterns without teeth, and then again with new teeth, the immediate version only requires learning new speech patterns once

Pros of immediate dentures

The biggest advantage is that the patient does not have to be seen in public without their teeth. Since the artificial teeth are installed the same day the teeth are removed, the patient can go home without concerns over appearance. This same-day installation also helps limit bleeding and swelling from the removal sites. Often immediate dentures look better as they are created before the teeth are removed.

Cons of immediate dentures

Since these dentures are created before the teeth are extracted, proper fit can potentially be an issue. Swelling, gum damage and bleeding can all exacerbate fit issues, requiring patients to return to their dentist for adjustments or refittings. Due to follow-up appointments and adjustments, immediate dentures also cost more than the regular variants.

Procedure for immediate dentures

Before the extraction appointment, the patient comes in for a denture visit and a mold is taken of the existing teeth and gums. This gives the dentist an accurate template for use in the denture creation. From this mold, the dentist creates the dentures, matching the existing teeth’s shapes, sizes and coloring. At the extraction appointment, the teeth are removed, then the dentures are immediately inserted. This means the patient gets to go home with a new set of teeth.

Following this appointment, the patient needs to return for additional visits for adjustments.

Conclusion

Immediate dentures are an effective way to handle the disappointment and stress that comes with needing to have your teeth removed. The immediacy of this procedure means you can leave the dentist office without feeling embarrassed or self-conscious over missing teeth.

Are you considering dentures in the Visalia area? Get more information at https://www.dentistofvisalia.com.

Check out what others are saying about our services on Yelp: Read our Yelp reviews.