When denture patients decide where to go to get new dentures, they should consider several important factors. Most people do not realise that they can now go directly to a Clinical Dental Technician in the UK instead of a dentist. The difference being that, unlike Clinical Dental Technicians, most dentists cannot do the laboratory work themselves; they instead send the moulds and fitting stages away to be produced in a commercial laboratory by someone you will never meet. However, clinical Dental Technicians are far more extensively trained for dentures. They are directly involved with the denture manufacturing for every patient they treat, often affording them advantages over dentists with their technical experience and speed to bridge the gap from laboratory to the patient.

Our services are private and not covered by the NHS. There are no set guidelines for private dentures’ prices outside of the NHS, so the costs vary greatly. NHS denture treatment costs approximately £200 – £300 unless you qualify for free dental treatment. Each month, we see several patients with both NHS and Private new dentures made that they cannot wear. There are several reasons for this, but mainly due to the experience level and time taken. You should also be wary of private price listed low-cost dentures, as when properly made, they take a considerable amount of clinical and laboratory time to make, and time is the main thing you are paying for. What you should consider, as well as the costs of the denture, is the experience level and attitude of the clinician you choose to make your new dentures. You should be aware that a professional and experienced denture maker will take plenty of time to discuss your denture requirements and, above all, listen to you and explain everything to you about all your options, associated costs and the reasons behind them so you can make a proper well-informed choice to suit your budget.

Yes, we can make your dentures if you are already registered with a dentist. For full complete dentures, we can go straight ahead. If you need partial dentures, then we need a simple prescription (find a printable copy under the referrals section) signed by a dentist who has checked your teeth to aid in designing your denture. This is a regulation set by the General Dental Council (GDC) for Clinical Dental Technicians.

Yes, we can recommend good local dentists. We have several dentists in the area that we work alongside to help denture wearers.

The single most important factor for making new dentures is planning your treatment correctly. This means making all the right choices for your new denture in advance, looking at the size, shape, materials, design, cost and appearance.

We have to select the kind of denture that’s right for you and incorporate the correct denture design specific to your needs, as every case is unique.

Making the right decision when selecting the correct, individual denture treatment for every patient depends on many important factors.

• Your current denture concerns:-
  • Poor appearance
  • Painful or loose-fitting dentures that stop you from enjoying food
  • Weak dentures that crack or kept breaking
  • Dentures that affect your speech or that give you a confidence issue

• Things to think about while we are planning your treatment:-
  • Your particular stipulations and opinions
  • Likes and dislikes
  • The health, position and sensitivity of any remaining teeth
  • Shapes and condition of the gums and oral tissue
  • Your gag reflex, sensitivity and adaptive capability to wear dentures will affect the design and choice options.
  • Do you have a timescale we have to work to? Is it urgent?
  • Your budget
  • Your age
  • Any conditions and medication which could affect  your treatment

The textbook generally states that you must not wear dentures at night but to generalise is not really possible with dentures. The way I see it is that there may only be reasons not to wear your dentures at night due to your specific circumstances.

On the whole, you can wear your dentures at night as long as you have a good twice-daily oral hygiene routine.  However, we would recommend removing them at night if you have small partial dentures or loose-fitting dentures as there is a high risk that you could choke on them.  We would also recommend removing them at night if you suffer from a condition called bruxism. This is where you clench or grind your teeth at night. This affects patients with partial and complete dentures, with the usual symptoms being aching or clicking jaws, headaches or painful gums. This can cause excessive wear of real and denture teeth and painful pressure points under dentures where they have been overloaded with biting force. Over a long period of time, this can cause accelerated gum shrinkage.

I know thousands of patients now over 80 who had all their teeth pulled out in their late teens or twenties who have always worn their dentures at night with no problems. Lots of patients cannot sleep without their dentures at night. I have patients that chew their own gums in their sleep if they leave their denture out, waking themselves up in pain.

There are several different kinds of soft comfort lining materials for dentures. They are usually silicone-based softer layers placed underneath mainly lower dentures when your mouth cannot take hard acrylic denture pressure directly. Some are temporary and only last for only about six months, whereas others can last several years. We only use these as a last resort for extremely receded flat ridges or bumpy, bony sensitive gum conditions to solve a problem.

Without a doubt, the most common food that breaks or cracks dentures is bread in its various forms.  Any large compressive foods that you take a large bite into, like pizza, normal sliced bread, toast, French bread or even pitta bread, all make you exert your full force to bite through it.  When biting into a bread product, the force used spreads across your denture. Interestingly the force used to bite is roughly equivalent to you standing on your denture. Biting seems an effortless action as you don’t consciously register any effort at the time. However, the pressure can be well in excess of 100 psi. I would guess probably over 80% of the broken dentures I have repaired resulted from eating bread, the vast majority of which were pink plastic acrylic ones. That’s why I make soo many chrome cobalt dentures, as they are not affected by this problem. It is also best to avoid really hard foods, for example, fridge cold chocolate or pork crackling.

There are no exact set times for how long dentures should last. We recommend having an annual denture health check-up and an oral examination. We can then check if your dentures still fit properly, are free from cracks or damage, and if there is any excessive tooth wear or gum shrinkage, which could cause any instability.

Yes, your denture can fit over the remaining roots. We normally advise if a dental crown snaps off or a real tooth breaks near the gum line, then we get a dentist to flatten them down and fill any holes. We can then fit the denture over the top without the trauma and healing delay of tooth extraction. This also means no gum shrinkage will occur.

I try to make the treatment as relaxed as possible for nervous patients. Because I am not a dentist, lots of nervous patients have sought denture treatment from me over the years as it seems easier for them, so I am very used to treating nervous patients. I have several gag free impression techniques for patients that suffer from this common problem. New ultra-quick setting impression materials make this situation much easier to manage.

Unfortunately, we cannot make dentures on the NHS. As Clinical Dental Technicians, we do not have an NHS contract, so our specialised denture treatment is only private.

Cleaning your dentures every day is important for good oral hygiene. If you don’t, plaque and bacteria can form on them, leading to oral health problems. We recommend you clean your dentures thoroughly twice a day and after eating when necessary. We recommend the following procedures are followed:

• The general rule to cleaning your dentures is: brush, soak, brush.
• Your dentures are breakable, so always clean your dentures over a bowl of water or a folded towel in case you drop them.
• Brush your dentures thoroughly before soaking to remove loose food particles. Use cool or warm water. Never use hot water – it can warp your dentures.
• If you insist on soaking your dentures, try using a ph neutral denture cleaner, if required. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for how long to soak them.
• Apply a denture cleaning paste to a moistened denture brush or a soft-bristled toothbrush. However, prolonged overuse of conventional toothpaste can permanently wear and damage your dentures as it is more abrasive than denture cleaning products. Brush all surfaces thoroughly. Avoid using brushes with stiff bristles, as these bristles can damage the denture material.
• Brush your gums, tongue, and the roof of your mouth with a soft-bristled regular toothbrush to remove plaque and stimulate circulation. Rinse your dentures, then reinsert them.
• Whilst you sleep at night, soak your dentures in a cleanser or water. If you use a denture cleanser, please follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use. However, if you feel more comfortable sleeping with your dentures, please clean your dentures thoroughly before retiring to bed.
• Please remember that if you use any denture adhesive, this needs to be removed daily.
• DO NOT use boiling water or any type of bleaching product to clean your dentures.
• If you notice a build-up of stains or scales, then we can clean your dentures professionally for you.

When new, your dentures are professionally polished to a lustrous shine. To maintain this, you need to get into the habit of brushing them thoroughly, twice a day on every surface.  An electric toothbrush is by far the best way to do this. However, a soft-bristled normal toothbrush could also be used. This, combined with a non-abrasive denture cream or toothpaste brushed in a circular motion to clean between the denture teeth, is all that’s needed to keep them looking as good as new. Another good trick is to fill the bathroom sink with water to brush them over if you drop them. Please bear in mind, though, not to overdo it as excessive brushing over time can wear the denture surface away. If you do not wear your dentures at night, soak them (after brushing) in clean water.

The use of bleach soaking products is not advised. They can cause permanent perishing damage to the denture acrylic. However, if you must use these advertised denture-soaking tablets, please limit the time to only a few minutes maximum. However, you will still need to brush them as well. We see a common problem when patients have soaked their dentures overnight in bleach or use a tablet bleach type product.  This can result in the pink plastic part of the dentures becoming rough and porous, and often they become much lighter, white in colour.

If you do get a tarter build-up or staining that you cannot remove, then we can professionally clean and polish your dentures while you wait.

Speaking with new dentures – getting used to dentures

Some patients find their speech can alter slightly (especially pronouncing “s” and “f” sounds) whilst getting used to the new shape of their dentures; this is usually only a short term inconvenience.

We recommend reading aloud and practising counting the numbers 65 up to 77 as these sounds can be the hardest to get used to.

It is also usual for denture wearers to produce more saliva, which can also affect speech when getting used to new dentures; this is because your mouth thinks your new dentures are food. This inconvenience is again short term, which will be resolved once your mouth becomes accustomed to the new dentures. We recommend swallowing more regularly and sipping water more often. Alternatively, try sucking on a boiled sweet or mint.

 Eating with new dentures.

At first, you may not find it easy to eat with new dentures when compared to your old set. Please do not give up and revert to your old set of dentures because your mouth needs time to adjust to your new dentures.

For those patients wearing new dentures, we recommend the following during the initial adjustment period of eating with dentures:

• Start with soft food cut into small pieces and chew slowly, avoiding hard, sticky foods.
• Chew slowly using both sides of your mouth at the same time to prevent the denture from dislodging.
• Try chewing up and down rather than side to side.
• When you become used to your new dentures, you can return to your normal healthy diet.

Sore Areas

Your mouth may likely have changed shape a great deal since you last had new dentures. At Denture World, we create your new dentures to fit the shape and contours of your mouth. This can result in pressure points and sore spots developing under and around your new dentures during the first few days of wear. This is perfectly normal but should it continue; we can alleviate any discomfort you experience by adjusting the denture surface. Please do not adjust your new dentures yourself. If the irritation is very painful, stop wearing your new dentures and contact us; we are happy to help.

If you are wearing partial dentures, please try not to bite your partial dentures into place as this may loosen and break the clasps and damage your mouth. If you need further advice on how to insert your new partial dentures, please contact us.