D E N T U R E   R E P A I R S

As your mouth changes, your once-perfect denture can start becoming a tad… troublesome.

Here are some of the common issues;

Denture loose and falling out

It is becoming more and more common for dentist to provide an Immediate Denture. This is where your teeth are removed the same day or a few days prior to your denture being inserted. As a lab, we hate this!

Your denture probably can’t be tried in as a wax mock-up as your existing teeth are still in place. We take the model provided by the dentist and roughly ‘guess’ the shape of your mouth with your teeth removed.

The denture is close to what is needed and you will be able to go about your life without weeks of having no teeth…but you will need to come back and have your denture relined in about 5-8 weeks. Why? Because all this time your gums are receding and changing shape.

You can use an adhesive in this time to help keep the denture in. It is important to go as long as you can for the gums to settle or you will need to repeat the process again if we reline too soon.

Over time, everyone needs a reline – how is it done?

The dentist takes an impression which shows an amount of material inside the denture – the gap between denture and gum. We then fill this gap with fast-setting acrylic. Some adjustments may be needed by the dentist and if the impression isn’t quite right, we may need to ask for another. Its a tricky process, both taking an accurate impression and relining. Listen to your dentists instructions and hang in there!

Other issues that may cause your denture to come loose are dropping the denture and damaging a clasp, or eating on one side. As tempting as it may be to adjust a clasp on your own, don’t!

There are two types of metal clasps – stainless steel and chrome. A stainless clasp is embedded within the acrylic and if broken, will need to be either entirely chopped out and replaced or another embedded elsewhere. Its not something you want to pay for, take it to the dentist and let them figure it out.

A chrome framework within an acrylic is expensive to repair and takes specialist equipment. Again, you really don’t want to take responsibility for breaking one of these off – sometimes we need to cast a new piece and weld it back onto the frame. Often an impression is needed. If you do break the clasp, do not loose track of it, as it may be able to be reattached using laser welding.

If you are overseas in a third world country, don’t take a broken chrome to the local dentist. Bring it back to Australia and get it done or risk a whole new denture.

If your teeth change or become loose, this too can mean your denture stops fitting. If your dentist was expecting this to happen, they may have already made a provision within the denture to make additions. If not, then it may mean you need a new one. The dentist may not be able to tell you immediately how long it will take or how much it will cost – every denture is unique and will need to be assessed by a lab before we know exactly how to proceed.