If you are considering full dentures, you may have questions about what happens before and after you receive them. Do you need a full denture if you still have some natural teeth? If those teeth need to be removed, will you leave with a denture that day or wait while your mouth heals? And once you have your new teeth, how long does it take to adjust to them?
At Carolina Dental Arts, we plan full dentures around where you are starting and what will happen as your mouth changes. For some patients, that means coordinating extractions with an immediate denture. For others, it means waiting for the gums to heal before making the denture or considering dental implants for added support from the beginning. Receiving your denture is an important point in treatment, but there is planning on one side of that day and adaptation on the other.
When Is It Time To Consider Full Dentures?
We may recommend full dentures when all of the teeth in your upper or lower arch are already missing. But you do not have to be completely toothless to need a full denture. You may still have several natural teeth that are too damaged or poorly supported to preserve long-term.
If you still have some of your teeth, we assess each one carefully before recommending extraction. We want to know whether the tooth is healthy enough to restore and if it has adequate bone and gum support. Severe decay, advanced gum disease, repeated infections, fractured roots, and failing dental work can leave several teeth with a poor long-term prognosis.
Sometimes, you may have only a few teeth left, and saving them would still leave you dealing with ongoing dental problems. Periodontal disease, for example, can cause significant bone loss around some teeth while others have extensive decay or recurring infections. In a situation like this, treating each problem as it arises may mean more procedures without giving you a dependable result for the entire arch.
If we determine that your remaining teeth cannot be predictably preserved, we may recommend removing them and replacing the complete arch.
Planning Full Dentures Around Tooth Extraction
If you still have teeth that need to be removed, you may be wondering what happens between your extractions and receiving your full denture. You do not necessarily have to spend that healing period without teeth. At Carolina Dental Arts, we can use an immediate denture when appropriate. We prepare immediate dentures before your appointment and place them after your extractions.
Your mouth begins changing as soon as we remove natural teeth. Swelling gradually subsides, the extraction sites heal, and the gums and underlying bone begin to reshape. An immediate denture serves as replacement teeth during this transition, but a denture made before these changes may need adjustments as you heal.
With a conventional full denture, we wait for your gums to heal before making the denture. Once the initial swelling has subsided and your tissues have begun to stabilize, we take impressions based on the new shape of your gums and jaw. This gives us a more stable foundation for the fit.
Adjusting to Your New Denture
A new set of full dentures will feel different from your natural teeth, and we expect an adjustment period. Your tongue, cheeks, and facial muscles need time to become accustomed to the new appliance. Speaking may sound different at first, and eating usually takes some practice as you learn which foods are easier to manage and how to chew comfortably with your denture.
We also expect to see you for adjustments. A denture can place more pressure on certain areas of the gums, creating sore spots that we can identify and relieve. We may also need to adjust your bite or address areas where the denture rubs, lifts, or moves. Never try to file or reshape a sore area yourself. We can make precise adjustments in the office as your mouth heals.
If you are still exploring your denture options, this adjustment period is also worth considering. Conventional dentures rely on the gums and underlying ridge. So, learning to eat with them also means learning to manage some movement. Dental implants can anchor a full denture to the jaw, providing additional stability from the start. You will still need time to adjust to your new teeth and return for follow-up care, but greater retention can improve how the denture behaves while you speak and eat.
Explore Your Options For New Teeth at Carolina Dental Arts
You may already know that some of your teeth are in trouble. The harder question is what to do about them. Can they be saved? Would a full denture give you a better result? Should dental implants be part of the plan?
We can answer those questions after we examine your teeth and oral health. Then, we can recommend an approach that fits your needs. Schedule a free consultation at Carolina Dental Arts to discuss full dentures.
