Full Dentures

Typically inserted by your dentist immediately after your teeth are extracted.

Making Immediate Dentures

Please schedule an appointment at lest 3 weeks before your extraction date. At your appointment we will take impressions of your mouth, make note of your midline and smile line, and pick out a tooth shade. We will also talk about what you like or want to change about your natural smile and take a reference photo.

If there are enough teeth present, we will register your bite. If not, we will make a bite rim for you and bring you back in for a second appointment to register your bite. That is all we need from you. From there we will design and process your denture and deliver it to your dental office for your extractions.

Using Immediate Dentures

Your new dentures will feel bulky, no matter how thin we make them. You will not be used to having something in there, but it will feel more comfortable with time. You will also have a lisp until your speech can adjust. The more you talk with them in, the sooner the lisp will fade. Reading out loud or singing along to the radio with them in can help. Also, if you have an upper plate, food will taste different with the palate covered, so be aware.

Learning to chew again will also be challenging. Your muscle memory was based on individual teeth now you will have teeth connected to each other. When you chew on one side of your mouth, it will move the other. Teaching yourself to chew on both sides at the same time can help. Also, your denture teeth will not have feeling, so at first you will be guessing and possibly bite your tongue or cheeks.

The most important thing you can do to help is not to get discouraged and don't give up your mouth will adjust and you will learn to eat most foods with time. Just be patient, practice and understand it will take some time to adjust. Start with soft foods and small bites, then work your way up to more complicated food. People who have had dentures for years can eat most anything, so give yourself time.

And the most challenging part of immediate dentures: your ridge is going to be in a rapid bone loss phase for about 6 months. That means it will be changing. So you will be learning to eat on a constantly changing surface. We will get the denture tight, then a few weeks later they will be loose again as your ridge reabsorbs. It is unavoidable. So, showing up for your follow up care is very important.

Immediate Denture Follow up care

Your dentures will be inserted by your dentist on the day of your extractions. You will want to follow up with us the very next day. The original fit of an immediate denture is guesswork, and impossible to predict. We are clipping teeth off a stone model and the dentist is extracting teeth from living tissue. Some people swell a lot or need stitches, others very minimal. Sometimes dentures are too tight and cause pain, other times they are too loose. That is why the next day visit is important. We will take down pressure spots that may cause pain and if it is too loose, place your first liner to tighten it up. If the denture is fitting decent, we will wait 1 week, then place the liner as your ridge will change a lot the 1st week after extractions.

Tissue conditioners (soft liners or TCs)

We use chairside soft liner material to fit your dentures to the current condition of your ridge. We will take your denture to the back and prep it for the liner, then we will load your denture with it and place it in your mouth to set. It will take 10 min to set enough for us to trim for you but a full 24 hours before it is completely set. After we trim it, we will send you home for it to set completely.

Do not use adhesive during this window or you could pull the liner out. Also, wear it all day (you can take it out at night). Using it will help it set better to your ridge. After the liner sets fully, you can treat it like a regular denture, use adhesive if needed and soak it for cleaning. The boarders we trimmed may feel rough after setting is complete and you may have a couple high pressure spots you want taken down. We will bring you back a couple days later or the next week to polish your TC and adjust any sore spots.

We will place 3 of these TCs over the course of 6 to 8 months as your ridge changes. At first your ridge will change very quickly, then increasingly slow down. We aim for the 1st one a week after extractions, the 2nd about 4 to 6 weeks later, and the 3rd about 10 to 12 weeks later. In between liners, your denture will become loose, so you may have to use some adhesive to keep them in near the end of your TC window each time. With the last liner we want to get you at minimal past the 6 month mark from extractions.

From there you will want to get a permanent reline. With this reline, we will not only change the shape of the inside of your denture to fit your ridge, but we can also now change the shape of the outside of your denture, allowing us to take in a lot of the bulk that was needed right after extractions. Most people find their denture a lot more comfortable after their permanent reline!

All adjustments and soft liners after extractions up to the 6 month mark are included in the price of an immediate denture. But please be aware, the Reline itself is a separate lab procedure. We will have to get a fresh impression of your ridge, then re-process your denture in the lab. It will take most of the day and is a separate cost.

Making Complete Dentures

It will take 5 visits to our office to make your complete denture. These do not have to be 5 weeks apart. The sooner you can get back in for each visit, the faster your denture can be made. You can even have 2 visits in one day if traveling a long distance to get to the office.

At your 1st visit we will take alginate impressions, (the same kind used in immediate dentures). After you leave we will use this model to make a custom tray to fit your arch exactly.

Your 2nd visit will be your final impressions taken in your custom tray with a different impression material designed to help pick up more detail and define the borders of your denture to your anatomy. (With immediate dentures, getting that perfect fit happens after the denture is made and after teeth are pulled with the TC material. But with a complete denture, your ridge is not going to immediately change so we can build your denture on a perfect fitting model.) After you leave, we will pour up your more accurate model and build a bite rim on it.

At your 3rd visit we will use your bite rim to register your bite, mark your midline and mark your high smile line. We will also pick out your tooth shade and talk about what you want your teeth and smile to look like. After you leave, we will mount your models on an articulator and set your teeth in wax, getting them ready for you to try in.

Your 4th visit will be a try in of your teeth set in wax. Here you have a chance preview your denture and approve the tooth shade and style of your teeth. We will ensure the smile line and midline look correct and double check your bite for you. If everything looks good, we can process your denture for you. If you want to change anything, we will make changes and bring you back for a 2nd try in.

Your 5th visit will be the delivery of your new complete denture. We will have you try in your denture and check for any high pressure spots or anything that feels uncomfortable.

Using a complete Denture

Like an immediate denture, this will also feel very bulky, as you are not used to having one in your mouth, but over time you will get used to it. If you have an upper covering your palate, your food will taste different, this is normal for dentures. Your speech will also have a lisp for a bit, so practice reading out loud, singing to the radio, or talking to a friend and in time the lisp will fade.

You will need to learn how to eat again. You went from teeth, to eating with just your gums and now you will have teeth again. However, this time they will all be connected. So what you do on one side will effect the other. Learning to chew on both sides of your mouth will help keep them more stable while you eat. And just like with immediate dentures, your teeth will not have feeling, so positioning food in the right spot for chewing may take some practice and you may even bite your tongue or cheeks a bit while you get used to it. If you bite your cheeks too often, adjustments can be made to help, so please let us know with your follow up care.

Follow up care for Complete Dentures

Using new dentures may cause sores or tenderness on your ridge if they are not used to having dentures. We always schedule a check up one week after a delivery to allow for adjustments of any uncomfortable spots. Three adjustments are included in the price of your new denture. Most people come back for at least one adjustment and every once in awhile, an adjustment is not even needed. If you need more than 3 adjustments, we most likely will not charge you, so please call us if it is needed.

We also offer FREE YEARLY CHECKUPS to all our patients, so if you are uncomfortable later on, please call us. Minor adjustments are always included with checkups.
406-586-6569

People want a replacement denture made for 4 main reasons: the acrylic is worn out, the teeth are worn flat, they don't like the look of their current denture and want to change the color, tooth size or tooth arrangement, or the bite is off and needs to be corrected.

Making a Replacement Denture
Making a replacement denture can be a quick process if we can get the information we need from your existing denture. We can use it as a as a custom tray to take final impressions and use the teeth on your denture as a bite rim to register your bite and make note of your midline and smile line. We will often take pictures of you in your old set and talk about what you like or what you would like to change about them.

If we can use your old set, we will do it in your 1st visit, but need to keep your denture for an hour while we pour up the impressions and mount the models. The wait is worth it as it combine 3 visits in 1 and save you trips to the office.

Your 2nd visit will then be a wax try in of your new set. You will have the chance to approve the tooth color, tooth arrangement and verify the bite is in the correct position. If approved, we will process it
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Your 3rd visit will be the delivery of your new denture. We will check for pressure and make sure it fits comfortably.

If we cannot use your old denture to get the information we will need, the same 5 visits to the office listed under making a complete denture will be needed.

Using a replacement denture

Using a replacement denture is easier to do, because you have worn dentures before. If we had to change the bite there may a small learning curve. Also if we tightened the fit from your old denture you may get some sore spots from the new fit. So follow up care will also be important.

Anther thing to be aware of with replacement dentures is switching between two sets of dentures can cause problems with the fit. Your tissues are soft and expand into your denture. If you switch back and forth from a new set to an old set, your gums may not adjust to the new set as well. It is best to pick a set and stick with it and only use your other set as a back up if needed.

Follow up care for a Replacement denture.

With any new fitting denture, there is a potential for sore spots. We will set a checkup to address any issues. If you do not need it, you can always cancel. Three adjustments are included with the cost of your denture. Most people need at lest one, but some may not need any. If you need a fourth, we will most likely not charge you so please let us know if it is needed.

We also offer FREE YEARLY CHECKUPS TO ALL PATIENTS. So if something feels uncomfortable a year later, give us a call! Minor adjustments are always included with free check ups.

406-586-6569

Bozeman Denture Center

Immediate Dentures

Complete Dentures

Made for you six months or later after extractions

Replacement Dentures

A denture made to replace an existing Denture.

Bozeman Denture Center