I just spent over $1000 on dentures and they won’t stay in. My dentist did an impression, a wax bite, and two wax try-ins. I would think that should have given him the right information. I noticed on the second wax try-in that the dentures wasn’t staying in. When I mentioned that to him he said, “This is just for the teeth, not the fit.” Well, now my dentures are in and the upper dentures till won’t stay in. Then he says, “Give it two weeks for your gums to have time to adjust.” I did and came back in with the same problem. He gave me denture adhesive and again asked me to give it two more weeks. Now it’s been two more weeks. I have nasty denture adhesive and a denture that still won’t stay in. Now he’s talking about doing a reline. Will this even help or is it just an attempt at getting more money out of me.? It’s not like there’s anything I can do about it. I don’t have any teeth.
Penny
Dear Penny,
I know you are frustrated and you have a right to be. The good news is, though your dentists took some shortcuts initially that led to this problem, the denture reline should fix it.
There is a lot of competition in the denture market. One of the ways dentures try to give themselves a better chance of drawing in patients for that procedure is by having the lowest prices. In order to do that and remain profitable, they have to cut some corners.
In dental school we’re taught to take two impressions of the patient’s bite. The first is with a heavier material that is used to register the border molding. This is the one responsible for your suction. The second impression is done with a lighter material that picks up all the delicate details. Many dentists will take a shortcut and use a medium weight material and only do one impression. In most cases, this works fine. It didn’t in yours. The reline will require the impressions to be re-done, so make sure he does the two-step impressions.
A Concern about Dentures
One thing I want to make sure you are aware of is when your teeth were removed, you body noticed this and determined you no longer need your jawbone to support those teeth. In an effort to be as wise with its resources as it can, it resorbs the minerals in your jaw in order to use them elsewhere in your body. After about ten or more years, you will no longer have enough jawbone to retain your dentures. This is known in dental circles as facial collapse.
If you want to keep your jawbone intact, you really need to get implant-supported dentures. This places about four to six dental implants in your arch and then secures the dentures to them. The implants serve as prosthetic tooth roots and leaves your jaw intact.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.