Brand New Dentist Doesn’t Stay In

I had to get dentures. My dentist did the impression and then some wax try-ins. It was hard enough losing my teeth, but even though they are brand new, they will not stay in. I talked to my dentist about it and he said to give the gums time to adjust. That didn’t work, so now he’s talking about doing a reline. What good will a reline do if it doesn’t fit?

Margie

Dear Margie,

I’m sorry you are experiencing this. While a reline should help, this would have been much easier if your dentist hadn’t skipped some steps. Truthfully, though, this is fairly common. Most of the time, it works out just fine. For you, it isn’t.

The best-fitting dentures require two impressions. Based on what you said, your dentist only did one.
They will first use a heavier impression material that is designed to set the borders for the dentures, a process known as border molding. Your upper dentures are held in by suction and these heavier impressions help to ensure the borders press in a bit to give it the best suction.

After that, a second impression with a lighter material, called a wash, will be used to capture all the tiny details of the soft tissue.

Some dentists will combine those two into one step using a medium weight impression material.

When your dentist does the reline for your dentures, he will hopefully be smart enough to use your dentures as a custom tray, which will be the equivalent of that missing step. If for some reason he doesn’t, you will need to request he does the two-step impression procedure to get the fit you want.

Consequences of Dentures

You didn’t mention your age. Hopefully, your dentist warned you of the dangerous effect of long-term denture use known as facial collapse. If he didn’t, please read the link I just placed carefully. After a while, you will not have enough jawbone left to retain your dentures. As the image directly above shows, facial collapse also has the unfortunate effect of aging your appearance by at least a decade.

To prevent facial collapse, we always recommend a patient consider getting implant-supported dentures. The dental implants serve as prosthetic teeth roots, which helps to prevent facial collapse.

This blog is brought to you by Naperville Cosmetic Dentist Dr. David Newkirk.