So you have dentures. Now what? Know that your gums and bone shift most drastically the first 6 months after your teeth are extracted. After that time shrinkage occurs but is minimal. This means how your dentures fit today will be different than how they fit tomorrow.
Upper dentures usually work well due to suction; however, the lower dentures for the majority of patients spend more time in their denture case.
Here are the incremental steps in keeping your dentures more secure in your mouth: adhesives, soft or hard relines, and finally implants.
1) Adhesives
3 kinds of adhesives: gels, powders, or pads. Although most companies offer the same varieties of each type, our patients have stated what they prefer the most:
1) Gels. This is the most popular form of adhesive and the most popular brand is Poligrip, Flavor Free. Dry the denture then apply 3-4 pea-sized amounts evenly spaced--2 in each back corner and one in the front, center. A 4th can be used on the center of the palate. Apply pressure when seating fully. Using too much will make your denture not flush and fit improperly. Best way to remove it from your palate is to use warm water and toothbrush. To remove excess from dentures, bathe the dentures in Polident for 3 minutes then brush off the excess.
2) Powders. Most popular is Fixodent. On wet dentures sprinkle the powder to cover the whole inside surface. Shake off the excess and apply pressure when seating fully. This works well but the mess and chalkiness are the common complaints.
3) Pads. SeaBond is like a felt-fabric material that has the easiest cleanup and does require some agility--not ideal for the more feeble patients. It needs to be cut to fit your dentures. Lightly dampen the pad with water as you mold it to your denture with the white side up then apply pressure when fully seating.
2) Relines
Soft Reline
Consider a soft reline when the denture becomes loose usually within the first 6 months after extractions . Dr. Nelson can apply an impression material that hardens into a soft, spongy feature that probably will be the most retentive unless you use implants. This material roughly lasts 4-8 weeks though, but is rather effective and has high patient satisfaction.
Hard Reline
After those 6 months are up is when we usually recommend a hard reline. This entails taking another impression of the denture in the mouth and submitting it to our elite denture lab that will convert that impression into acrylic. We thin the denture back and make it the most retentive it can up to that point. Adhesives may still be recommended afterwards.
3) Implant Options
"Overdenture" Supported Implants
Often times we can use your existing denture though sometimes it may be best to create a new denture to adapt to implant placement. The upper arch would require a minimum of 4 implant screws while the lower arch would be at least 2 implants. These implants have attachments that snap onto the dentures. There still will be some bounce from the dentures, not perfectly stable, but they will definitely be more retentive than no implants.
Hybrids (AKA All-on-4)
The gold standard for missing teeth. This entails a process of many months and multiple implants (may be more than 4) placed on the whole arch. Once healing is complete, Dr Nelson will fabricate a denture more durable than acrylic, usually made out of the latest state-of-the-art material: zirconia or resin. This material does not collect tartar as easily as regular dentures do. This prosthetic is screwed in and does not come out. Hybrids provide the best form of retention and stability, do not usually cover the palate, and have the most satisfaction from our patients.
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