<< Topic in Denture Dentist Dentistry Dental Office in Tempe AZ >>
One of the common complaint for people wearing the complete denture is that the denture is loose. The most probably cause of this problem is that the “gum” is receded. The bony ridge inside the patient’s moth is what supporting the denture and these ridges might become shrunken as time goes on. It is a normal biological process of bone formation and resorption. With the denture in the patient’s mouth, the denture would be pressing on these ridges. The side where it experiences the pressure would cause bone resorption. The process of bone resorption is slow but it is not uncommon to see people who had been wearing the denture for more than 10 years to have shallow ridges. That’s because the ridges have been shrunken.
Another situation in which the patient might feel the the denture become loose is when the patient just had immediate denture placed in the mouth after the extraction of teeth. Immediate denture is usually fabricated for patient who have to have unrestorable teeth extracted and needs the immediate teeth replacement for the purpose of eating and esthetics reasons. At first the immediate denture might be fitted well. However, with the healing of the ridge following the extraction of teeth, the ridge would heal and the contour of the ridge might change. Also, the rate of bone resorption within the ridge is the greatest within the first 4 months following the extraction. Thus, the immediate denture might become loose as result of these natural processes.
In order to compensate for the changes of the bony ridge, a procedure called the hard reline can be done. The dentist would use the existing denture and apply the impression material onto the base of the denture. Then denture with the impression material would be seated together onto the ridge and new impression of the contour of the ridge would be formed. The dentist can resurface the base of the denture according to the new impression of the ridge. The new denture base should have more intimate relation with the ridge. This resolves the ridge resorption problem.
Written by Daniel Tee, DDS, MS
Denture Dental Office in Tempe AZ — Partial Dentures, Complete Dentures, Removable Dentures, Flippers
Serving the city of Tempe, Chandler, Phoenix, Gilbert, and Mesa in Arizona. Practicing General Dentist
