Bad teeth affect patients in many ways, both physical and emotional. Infected teeth cause pain, destroy underlying jawbone, and can significantly impact quality of life. In addition, bacteria from bad teeth can spread throughout the body causing cardiovascular issues, inflammation, discomfort, and leaving many people simply feeling rundown. Then there is the emotional impact. Bad teeth leave many people embarrassed, unwilling to smile, and unable to enjoy social events. Removing the source of the infections and bacteria, the bad natural teeth, and replacing them with something you’re proud to show off is what we’ll cover briefly in this post.

6 months to a healthier smile

After consulting with your dentist and coming up with a treatment plan, the first step is having impressions/molds of your mouth taken. Typically, these are taken before your natural teeth are removed. Our on-site lab uses these impressions to make models of your mouth. The teeth are removed from these models and your dentures are fabricated so that they will be ready to be placed immediately following the removal of your teeth. This is where we get the name immediate dentures.

For many patients, dental work makes them nervous. If this is the case for you, we can prescribe a medication to help relax you during your procedure. You’re not able to drive or operate any other motor vehicle while under the influence of this medication so you’ll need to have a driver arranged to bring you to and drive you home from your appointment. For your procedure, you’ll be thoroughly numbed before the dentist begins. Removing the teeth normally goes much quicker than patients think it will, then the immediate dentures are placed right away.

Placing the dentures immediately has multiple benefits:

They help control swelling - just like an athlete who wraps an injured ankle to keep it from swelling, your dentures will help reduce swelling of your gums.
They help control bleeding – the pressure of your dentures in place can help reduce or stop the bleeding from your extraction sites.
You get to start learning to function with dentures immediately. The sooner you start, the faster you’ll improve.
You get to leave the office with your new teeth!

The first 2 weeks after your procedure are usually the most difficult. You might be a little sore and wearing the dentures is going to feel strange, however, now that the source of infection and bacteria is removed, many patients describe starting to feel better overall physically very quickly. At the 2 week post-procedure mark, you’ll come in for what’s called a soft liner. This is a cushion that goes inside the denture to take up any extra space between your gums and the dentures. These really help improve the fit and comfort of your dentures. Another soft liner will be placed around the 2 month post-procedure mark. After this, we’re just waiting on your jaws and extraction sites to finish healing. Your gums will probably look like they’re completely healed after 2-4 weeks, but it’s the bone underneath that heals so slowly. We want to wait for this to heal completely before proceeding with your final fit.

The final step in the immediate denture process is a lab-processed hard re-fit. This is typically done at or around the 6 month post-procedure mark and will fit your dentures to your now-healed gums and jawbones. Something to keep in mind is that your mouth will continue to change for the remainder of your life following extractions, however, it slows down significantly after your initial 6 month healing period. Re-fits may be needed every few years.

This is just a brief summary of the immediate denture process. For additional information on immediate dentures, visit our Immediate Dentures page at: https://www.memphisdenturesandimplants.com/immediate-dentures-memphis