Full & Partial Dentures

Dentures

Dentures bring back your smile. No matter the reason, if you’ve lost some or all of your teeth, full or partial dentures—removable teeth replacements—restore your chewing ability and also help with speech and facial structure. All these benefits lead to more confidence.

When You Need Dentures

There are several reasons you might need dentures:

You’re missing some or all of your teeth
You currently have dentures that need to be replaced
You’re going to have some teeth removed and want dentures to replace them

Whether you need full or partial dentures depends on how many teeth you’re missing or will be having removed. We’ll consult with you to determine the best plan for your situation.

Different Types of Dentures

Full Dentures

When you’re missing all teeth on the top or bottom (or both) of your mouth, you’re a candidate for full dentures. Made of a plastic base and colored to match gum tissue, full dentures support a full set of porcelain or plastic teeth. Full dentures form a seal with your gums to hold them in place.

Partial Dentures

Partial dentures are for those with several missing teeth that form a gap. Made from plastic or a metal framework supporting the number of teeth you need replaced, partial dentures affix to your mouth with clasps around your natural teeth.

Dentures FAQs

We can begin making dentures 2-3 months after your mouth has healed from any tooth loss or extractions. When your teeth are lost or removed, the sockets fill up with bone and your gums shrink as they heal. We need to let the healing process fully complete to ensure your dentures fit properly.

Making dentures usually takes 8-10 weeks, depending on your specific situation, and will require multiple appointments. Here’s what to expect:

Initial Impression: At your first appointment, initial impressions will be taken and sent to our dental lab.
Final impression: Accurate final impressions will be taken with a custom set of impression trays and sent to the lab. Your dentures will be fabricated from this impression.
Fitting: We’ll work with a wax rim to establish your smile line, tooth size and comfortable resting position.
Try-in: The lab will create your dentures out of wax. You and Dr. Sabaté will decide if the wax denture has optimum function and fit.
Delivery: At your final appointment, you’ll get your dentures and we’ll make any adjustments to improve the fit and function.

As you get used to your dentures, you may deal with some initial annoyances like additional saliva, soreness or difficulty with speech or chewing. These are common and will dissipate. If you feel like your bite is not right, or if you have sore spots, contact us for an adjustment. Dentures can—and should—be extremely comfortable, so we want to make sure that’s the case.

Keeping your dentures clean is immensely important to your oral health. Soaking your dentures every night in a professional-grade solution sanitizes and disinfects the dentures, helping you avoid gum infections or other issues.

It’s okay to gently brush your dentures during the day to keep them clean as well. Dentures should last 5-10 years, and the better you care for them, the closer to 10 you’ll get.

Also, keep in mind your mouth is always changing. Because of this, we may need to make adjustments to your dentures approximately once a year. We’ll check during your regular bi-annual cleaning to make sure your dentures are in good shape and fit perfectly.

We’re Ready to Help You

At Cajon Dental, everything we do is centered on you, your health and your experience.