Dentures at Marius Street Family Dental

1. Getting the treatment plan right is always our number one priority. This involves getting the right xrays, discussing all the options as well as the pros and cons of each.
2. One of our dentists will get your mouth ready for dentures - this includes a good clean of remaining teeth and getting any fillings or extractions completed first.
3. Impressions or digital scans of your mouth are taken.
4. The dentist will work with our lab closely on denture design.
5. We perform a trial to ensure that the denture will fit comfortably in your mouth without issues. We check the colour, shape of teeth, your bite and how everything blends into your smile. The number of trials needed may vary from patient to patient to provide a natural look and comfortable feel.
6. Once we are happy we will process your denture and issue it to you. We will go through all the aftercare instructions.
7. Review appointments after you have had a chance to give your new teeth a spin.

This very much depends on your case. We generally recommend some try-in visits where we can still make modifications. Partial dentures are generally anywhere from 3-4 visits. For full dentures where we are redesigning your smile from scratch we normally tell patients to budget at least 5 visits.

• Cost: cheapest way to replace many missing teeth.
• Quick: generally doesn't involve much change in the mouth.
• More teeth can be added later. This makes dentures a good option for people who have some teeth that are not in good condition.

• The force at which you’re able to bite with is significantly decreased (200 psi to 50 psi) when going from natural teeth to dentures. Obviously, this depends on the patient and their ability to adapt to wearing dentures.
• Dentures must have a degree of movement as they are removable, no matter how well the denture is made. This can lead to rubbing on the gums causing ulcers or discomfort when chewing.
• After losing a tooth, the bone shrinks rapidly. Unfortunately, this process continues for the rest of your life. This means the longer you have dentures, the less bone you have to hold your dentures in. This means that dentures should be relined every few years. They can cause increased bone loss compared to alternative treatment options.
• There is always an adaptation process after dentures are given to a patient. Usually this takes around 3 months. The muscles actually chew differently when dentures are in. However, unfortunately, sometimes patients never adapt to their dentures. 50% of lower dentures do not get worn.
• Repair of abutment teeth rate-60% at 5 years and 80% at 10 years. This means that the teeth that are used to hold the dentures in (we call them ‘abutment teeth’) suffer more decay, wear and “stripping” (where the gum gets damaged from the clasps). We find the teeth that we use to support the dentures are at more risk of being loose, having disease and bacterial build up. 44% abutment teeth are lost within 10 years.
• Bulky compared to bridges or implants- can interfere with speech and tongue function. This generally resolves once your muscles adapt to having them there.
• If it covers the palate, it will affect your taste.