Immediate Denture Wearers....help please

scaredstiff70 · 05-09-2003, 08:53 PM

Wondering if anyone out there can help me with some immediate denture questions???

1) How often did you have to go for adjustments during your initial healing process (post-extractions)?

2) How do they "refit" the denture once complete healing has been accomplished? Do they remake the entire 'gum' part of the denture to fit snug, or is it the same base but just fitted differently?

3) I have heard it could take up to 6 months to heal completely....is this true? I have seen several different time frames ranging from 6-8 weeks, to 6-8 months. What should I expect? (I should note that after only 2 weeks, my gums have shrunk so much that I have to use a major amount of adhesive just to keep the dentures in place...any alternatives? Liners maybe?)

4) Once the final refitting is done, will it fit so tight that I will not need adhesives? I'd hate to think that I'm waiting for my final reline only to have it fit less than "perfect".

5) Lastly, after the last adjustment I had done, I am getting a bad gag reflex in the morning when I put the dentures in...it lasts for about an hour, then subsides. Is this due to it still being such a foreign object in my mouth? I didn't have this problem even the first day after I had the upper plate. It seems to be getting worse as my upper gums shrink. They did file it down for me, but it did nothing for my gagging. Could it still need some adjusting?

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

scaredstiff70

scaredstiff70 · 05-09-2003, 08:58 PM

I forgot one qauestion.....

My bite seems to be WAY off....is this a normal part of the healing process? My front teeth come together, but my back teeth don't touch at all when I bite down. It doesn't seem right to me....but I am new to this. Any ideas?

Thanks again.

Yos · 05-11-2003, 10:08 AM

1. Go for adjustments as often as needed. There is no reason for you to be in any unnecessary pain or discomfort.
2. There are 3 options after your gums have "healed" (see item 3). They are A) a hard reline B) a rebase C) a new set of "permanent" dentures.
3. "healing" could take as little as a few weeks. The gums will continue to shrink rapidly for the first 3 months or so. They may begin to stabilize at about the 6 month mark, everybody is different so times will vary with each person. This is when you can go ahead with the options in 2). During the period where your gums shrink the most you should be seeing your dentist about a soft reline. They will help keep your dentures in place with a decent bite while your gums are shrinking in the first 6 months or so.
4. After a hard reline, rebase or getting new dentures made, the dentures will fit well for a while. Unfortunately, the gums continue to shrink, albeit very slowly. Soft relines will be needed to maintain the "retention" and "stability" of the denture between future hard relines or rebases.
5. Gagging can be caused by a variety of things, a poor fitting denture being one of them. A soft reline may or may not solve the gagging problem. Either way, see your dentist about finding the cause.
6. The bite should be adjusted each time a reline is done.

I hope this helps.

scaredstiff70 · 05-12-2003, 09:47 AM

Thank you for your response!

My dentist will be out of the office for one week, so I am unable to go for any adjustments for at least 7 more days.
They also told me that they would like to see how long I can go between adjustments simply because my gums are shrinking so much during this initial phase. I was thinking of getting some drug-store soft liners to ease my transition, but unsure if I would be wasting my money? The front of the bottom denture doesn't rest on my gums due to (I'm assuming) the back gums still being swelled somewhat (I had a hard extraction on one side which is slow to heal). Would a soft liner help 'fill in' that space between the denture and my front gums?
Other than that, I can keep the uppers in all day with Fixodent, and the lowers tend to stay in for about 8 hours before the adhesive wears down. I'm just trying to get through this initial phase until I am ready for the final 'fitting', which seems to be a lifetime away.

Thanks again for your help.

Respo Mycojackson · 05-12-2003, 07:12 PM

I am getting the full denture -immediate placement like you? - in about three weeks.
I am scared stiff about the pain right after the extractions, and placement of the dentures. I've had so much pain. They call it Trigeminal Neuralgia, and I don't know if that will interfere with the proceedure.
Its all so much to arrange, my dentist isn't any help. I go for the "consult" tomorrow.

Did you have to pay about $1500 for the ectractions, and then about $1500 for the dentures too?

To answer your question - my other [previous] extractions have healed 'mostly' in about 6 weeks, but not finished healing for about 3 months.