What is an immediate denture?
An immediate denture is a complete denture or partial denture inserted on the same day, immediately following the removal of natural teeth. An immediate denture will allow you to avoid the embarrassment of living without teeth.
Let me explain what an immediate denture is by using an example. Suppose, for instance, that you have eight (8) remaining upper teeth. These teeth are, unfortunately, poor and can not be utilized in any way to support a new prosthesis. If you were to have a traditional denture made, it would be necessary to have all of these teeth extracted first, the bone and gums would have to heal and then a denture could be fabricated. This process could take several weeks, if not longer, and for that time period you would have to go around without any teeth. In order to avoid this type of problem, we utilize an Immediate Denture technique. This involves taking impressions of your mouth while your teeth are still present. At the same time, when your teeth are extracted, we have a denture ready to be inserted. In this way, you neverhave to walk around without teeth. Immediate Dentures do present certain situations which I would like to list for you.
- Typically, after the extraction of teeth, there may be some swelling. By placing your denture in immediately, this swelling can be kept to a minimum. If you did not place the denture immediately, the swelling that occurs might not allow you to wear your denture until the swelling subsided.
- It is very important that you follow the post-operative instructions of your dentist or oral surgeon very carefully. You must wear younewimmediate denture for three (3) days, after the surgery, without removing it. This will help to control the swelling.
- Once healing has occurred, after approximately three (3) months, you will either need a reline of your existing denture orthe fabrication of an entirely new denture. If a new denture is to be made, you will then be able to use the immediate denture as a spare (emergency) denture. This can sure come in handy if your new denture should break and need to be repaired at the laboratory.
What are the advantages of an immediate denture?
There are several advantages of an immediate denture. The most important factor is that you will never need to appear in public without teeth. When an immediate denture is inserted at the time of extraction, it will act as a Band-Aid to protect the tissues and reduce bleeding. Keeping bite pressure on the denture for 30-60 minutes should help stop the bleeding. An immediate denture will allow you to establish your speech patterns early. You will not have to learn to speak without a denture in place and then later relearn to speak with a new denture. An immediate denture will also allow you to chew better than without any teeth and minimize facial distortion that may occur when teeth are removed.
What are the disadvantages of an immediate denture?
The disadvantage is the increased cost. Another disadvantage is that you cannot always see how the denture will look before the teeth are extracted and the immediate denture is inserted. An immediate denture doesn’t fit the bone and gum tissue as intimately as a conventional denture, so it requires more adjustments during the healing stage.
Why does an immediate denture cost more?
An immediate denture is initially more expensive than a conventional denture because additional time is needed for construction. Also, more follow-up visits are needed for adjustments and re-fitting. A soft temporary reline material will be utilized for re-fitting your denture when it becomes loose during the healing process. After the soft tissues have healed and shrinkage of the underlying bone has occurred (about six months following extractions), the immediate denturemust be finalized by a permanent reline or new denture. At this time, you will be charged for either a reline or a new denture, depending on your choice. If the immediate denture is relined, it will usually need to be left overnight while it is permanently relined in the laboratory.