Now that your new denture is in place it will feel unusual and possibly uncomfortable. This is partly due to the numbness of the tissues and also because it is new and different. Frequently it just takes some “getting used to”, but occasionally it may require a modification to the denture itself.
In the First 30 Days
It takes time for your gums, cheeks, and tongue to adjust to wearing an oral appliance. However, after a couple of weeks have passed, you'll notice fewer sore spots in your mouth and less saliva. Don't hesitate to call our office if you need your dentures adjusted.
During your first few days with your immediate dentures, you will likely develop some sore spots. These occur due to uneven pressure on the denture. Adjustments are best made following three to six hours of continuous wear, as this helps your dental team identify the precise areas causing discomfort.
Permanent Dentures: In general, permanent dentures are a more comfortable and better fit than temporary options and can typically last for years without further adjustments. Despite being more expensive, permanent dentures offer a better fit and better durability.
An immediate denture is initially more expensive than a conventional denture because additional time is needed for construction. A surgical stent (a guide for recontouring tissues after extraction) is often necessary and more follow-up visits are needed for adjustments and re-fitting.
Because they are made prior to your tooth extraction and not custom fitted to your teeth and mouth, immediate dentures may also feel a little thicker than permanent dentures. But some of that feeling is often due in part to something “foreign” in your mouth.
Dentures should be designed sufficiently thick because a few devices like acrylic denture base are flexible and rigid, depending on how thick the denture base is to provide strength and durability.
They feel big – Some people feel that their new dentures are too wide and bulky, making them look like a horse. In reality, this is not so. This illusion usually doesn't have to do with the dentures, but rather is due to the mouth still being swollen.
Immediate dentures are intended to look as natural as possible. In most cases, they are difficult to distinguish from normal teeth.
If you want to know if your dentures will feel normal, the answer is yes. You may have recently gotten the teeth, or perhaps you are considering getting them. You might want to know what to expect. The good news is that today's prosthetics feel more natural than ever, and you can get accustomed to them quickly.
The first few weeks will be a period of adjustment, especially due to the drastic changes and bony remodeling of your jawbone after multiple extractions. Your immediate dentures will need to be adjusted and you will need to adjust to your new dentures.
It may take some time to adjust to your new dentures, so a little irritation is perfectly normal. Poorly fitting dentures – ones that are loose or don't fit properly – can be the cause of dentures cutting into the gums or rubbing the gums. Fortunately it's something you can easily fix with the help of your dentist.
Tissue Conditioning, also called Soft Reline
Tissue conditioning is performed during healing stage and includes placement of a temporary soft liner inside the denture in order to improve comfort and fit of the denture. During immediate denture treatment patient may require several or more soft reline appointments.
The correct fitting of dentures can usually prevent this, but the denture flanges that go around the gums can cause puffiness for some people. The shortness of dentures may also cause puffy lips and cheeks, which will cause them to fold outward rather than inward like sunken lips.
Thanks to modern dentistry, upper dentures are now made without the palate, also known as palateless dentures or horseshoe dentures. This type of denture is made for patients who do not have all their upper teeth. Palateless dentures can be used with overdentures, removable restoration, and dental implants.
If your dentures are too big or short, your face might look puffy. Dentures that don't fit properly can affect the alignment of your chin and make your face look lopsided.
Wearing ill-fitting dentures, particularly in the case of a complete denture, may interfere with achieving sufficient occlusal contact. Insufficient occlusal contact reduces masticatory performance and causes impairment of swallowing activity.
If your denture teeth are mis-matched to your facial structure, your denture can make you look like a horse. When the front teeth are too large, it looks, well… “horse-y.” This happens when a denture is made with teeth that aren't proportional to each other or to your mouth.
Your dentist removes molars still present in your mouth and allows you to recover from the extraction, generally requiring approximately six weeks.
The strongest implant dentures are made of a combination of titanium and zirconia. Zirconia has a strength of up to about 1100 MPa, nearly 160,000 pounds per square inch! That's more than 25 times as strong as your natural teeth–and about five times as strong as your bone.
Please keep the denture(s) in your mouth for the first 2 days and nights, removing them only for cleaning after 24 hours, unless otherwise specified by your dentist. Thereafter, the denture(s) should be removed and left out of your mouth at night time.
It is not possible to immediately place permanent dentures in the mouth following tooth extraction. The gums and oral tissues need some time to heal before the dentures can be set.
New dentures, sore gums
Tissues may still be swollen and tender, but even if healing is completed, until you learn how to spread the pressure of eating and chewing across the whole denture, it is not surprising your gums take time to toughen up.
Shrinkage of gums and bone is obvious during that time, but it slows thereafter. We recommend a hard reline 3-6 months after the initial surgery. This reline is not included in your initial fee. You may elect to have a second reline 18 months after the initial surgery.