If you already have missing teeth an acrylic denture can be made often in a day. If real teeth or crowns have snapped off leaving spikes of roots sticking out beyond gum level I usually get a dentist to flatten them prior to taking the impressions. As long as there are no holes or decay present the dentist will leave the roots in so there is less trauma to surrounding teeth and also no gum shrinkage. This in turn also means leaving a more stable base for the denture as long as there is room with where your teeth occlude. This is a very common situation having what is called an over denture.

Another common scenario. If you have one or more loose real teeth or crowns that are past the point of no return it is easy for us to plan ahead. I can either recommend a nice dentist to remove the teeth and trim roots down or work alongside your regular dentist. I need to see you first to assess the best way to plan your treatment – either to make a denture before the extractions called an immediate that’s ready to put straight in when the teeth are removed, or to do the impressions afterwards and make a denture quickly the same day. There are several reasons why one or the other would be better suited so I need to see you to discuss it first. We can copy how your real teeth looked exactly, or enhance them to look better depending on what your teeth look like. Prior to the extractions I often take a photo, shade match and bite print of your teeth so I have very accurate measurements to aid getting the appearance right to copy the way the missing teeth looked.

This is a common scenario where I often see patients who feel they are being fast tracked into having implants  without the option of having normal dentures made properly first. I can help you make the right decision by thrashing out all your denture options during a consultation and by showing you examples of the different kinds and designs of suitable dentures and their likelihood of success. It is very hard to generalise with this situation but I find that dentures made properly are fine for the vast majority of well over 90% of the patients I see and at a fraction of the cost of denture implants. A lot depends on case specifics as I do refer a few patients each year for implant treatment. If in doubt let me have a look with a free consultation as I will be able to tell in a couple of minutes how suitable normal dentures would be for you as denture Implants are always an option afterwards if you really cannot tolerate normal dentures.

The normal timescale is a week or two for making new dentures but we can make dentures in a day for emergency situations.

We can make what’s called an immediate denture that is ready to fit straight away when the dentist extracts your problem teeth. However if any real teeth are so loose there is a risk they will come out when we do the denture impressions then the denture will have to be made quickly after the extractions usually within a day.

Speech being affected and getting used to dentures depends on several factors.

• The kind of denture you have – thinner Alloy/thicker Acrylic.
• How well made and designed the denture is.
• The shape of your mouth and palate depth.
• Your individual adaptive capability

When you speak your tongue automatically knows the exact position and shape of your mouth to create the gap for the phonetic airflow to control the sound of your S’s for example and every other noise we create to talk.

When we change this shape by placing a denture over the area behind your front teeth this affects everyone with their first denture. For some people they can adapt their speech back to normal in a couple of days where as others can take longer.

What actually happens is that your tongue maps the new shape to talk against like a 3d scanner or a computer programme and the interesting thing is that it all happens subconsciously when you are not actually thinking about it. That is why different people have different adaptive times to get used to talking normally again, however this is completely normal as 99% of people are fine with correctly designed well-made dentures.

For the routine replacement of existing full dentures you have been happy with, the normal time frame is about two weeks to make them with usually between three and six appointments. The complexity and amount of time varies depending on how many denture problems with the appearance, fit and function we have to solve. Often an improvised copy denture technique will be used where impressions are taken inside your old dentures so we can copy all the settings that we want to keep such as the appearance and shape. Then nobody will know you have new dentures as you will look and sound the same.

An exact copy is an easy denture for us to make but usually when new replacement partial dentures are needed it is because of changes to existing real teeth causing, unstable dentures or breakages to the old denture. We then often have to redesign your new partial denture to solve any problems and make your new denture as future proof as possible.

A Review appointment is made for you so we can check how you are coping with your new dentures. We often need to adjust slight pressure points under the dentures by using pressure indicating moulds to highlight the exact areas to target. We also check the occlusion to make sure everything is ok. This is all routine and included in the initial cost of your treatment however many appointments are needed for up to a 12 month period.

I help hundreds of denture patients each year with NHS (and often private) dentures they cannot wear. Either they are too thick, painful, over extended making you gag or look completely wrong as the tooth settings are miles out. This is most often due to several factors.

• Very poor substandard NHS dental laboratory work due to low manufacturing costs with the cheapest materials which does not afford enough time.
• Not enough time spent clinically by the Dentist rushing/or inexperience/lack of care
• A breakdown in vital instructions /communication between the Dentist and dental laboratory they send the impressions and fitting stages to.
• Trainee inexperienced work experience Dentists are used to do the NHS denture work

Please do not despair as I can always improve the results dramatically with dentures done properly to suit how you need them.

Sometimes I can simply ease part of the denture to relieve the pain. I need to have a look in your mouth and do a pressure point mould underneath the denture to show me where to adjust it in a couple of minutes.

There can be several reasons for this depending on how old the dentures are. Losing body weight or real teeth can have great effect on the fit and stability of existing dentures.

If the teeth are worn out unevenly making the denture tip when you bite or chew then this is more likely to be a case where your dentures need replacing.

This problem usually arises with new dentures as you get used to them especially when we have had to change the tooth settings. Most patients need up to a few days to adjust their speech. However this is all done at a subconscious level without thinking about it. I often explain to patients that when learning to speak with a new denture you cannot actively try to master it.

Your tongue has to learn where the new shape is that’s kind of like a 3d scanner to such an exact and precise position to master certain sounds, the most obvious being your S’s.

The other thing to consider is that different patients have varying levels of adaptive capability which means some people can find it more difficult than others.

If you are still not sounding right after a few days of trying with new dentures I can change the shape and thickness of your dentures where you touch them with your tongue based on the sounds that are causing you problems.

This scenario is up there on the more complex side of treatment depending on the reasons you are not happy with them.

I would ask you to bring in all of your old dentures so I can assess them and work out what to do to solve your specific problems.

This situation usually means you need new dentures made as you have worn down the biting chewing surfaces of your teeth. This is sometimes caused by people who chew mint sweets all the time as they are very abrasive and wear out dentures much faster, often after giving up smoking people chew mints instead.

If you have a new denture that you cannot tolerate due to it’s size then it quite simply needs redesigning. Every patients tolerances are different and some have a very sensitive gag reflex which is quite normal and fairly common. Dentures are often made fully extended back in the mouth without checking the patients tolerances first. I use what I call palate mapping to see how far the denture can be tolerated before it is made. Dentures can be designed around this common problem.

The problem here is everyone wants to generalise. I always try to design dentures to be able to be glue free in most cases but it is not always possible. Some patients have to wear denture glue just because of how their mouth is. If you cannot wear your denture without glue then there is a fair chance I could make one for you that will stay in glueless but I need to asses your mouth first.

If this is the case then your denture is possibly a very poor fit or is tipping when you bite and chew. If your denture rocks as you chew then it is failing in the worst way. The adhesive will be squashed from side to side as you eat and won’t last long. I can usually quite easily solve this problem so call me.

This a common problem I see every week. It causes partial dentures to press and tip causing pain, loosness with possible damage to real teeth. Full dentures are unstable and often loose because of this. I can often simply adjust your denture to solve the problem. Balanced occlusion (chewing) means no tipping and rocking solving pain issues ans loose dentures. Usually because the denture teeth were not carved to chew properly when made in a dental laboratory and also not checked by the person who fitted them.

This is one of the most common scenarios I see several times a week with old dentures and often brand new ones. The cause is that your lower denture is in the way of where your lip above your chin pulls back into making it lift up.

The severity varies from only lifting a couple of millimeters to visibly watching a patients lower lip bulge out when they push the denture down, only to instantly spring up when they let go.

Lower complete dentures are not comparable to upper full dentures as they fit in a different way. Lower full dentures are not held down tight and cannot grip lock onto your gums. They sit with gravity alone resting on top of gums nestling between the soft tissues of the tongue, lips and cheeks. When made well they are moulded to be as extended as possible yet out of the way of all the moveable parts of the mouth that incroach into the space where they sit. I use a process often referred to as 3d mouth mapping or border moulding to make full lower dentures feel tighter, although they are not actually “tighter” they are as extended as possible and not in the way of anything.

Just like problem above there is a good chance the denture has been positioned incroaching your tongue space and needs changing.

If changes are needed to the appearance of your teeth then enhancements can easily be incorporated to change their shade or size and position. We have a huge range of gender specific denture teeth to choose from for each patient. This does however usually increase the amount of time and appointments needed to achieve optimum results. We often get you to find an old photo showing how your teeth used to look (if you liked them) which can be used to help select the correct shape and size of denture teeth and how to position them for your individual characterised appearance. As each case is so different it is impossible to generalise on the changes that are needed as usually there is a combination of varying problems between the aesthetics and the fit/function. That’s why consultations are free so we can plan your treatment and assess what is possible for each individual patient to find out what is required.

I see many patients who have denture teeth that just look false because they are set in the wrong position relative to their lips with often the wrong size and shape of teeth. I can easily work out how to change these settings to improve your appearance. Providing proper support for your top lip with cosmetically pleasing denture teeth that are angled correctly can transform your look for both smiling and talking.

There are vast differences in the kinds of denture teeth available from very plasticy lifeless teeth costing pence right up to the most amazingly life like individually characterised teeth that reflect the light the same as real teeth so you really cannot tell the difference.

We now have tooth coloured or clear flexi clasps.

If you have dry joins between the teeth and pink of your denture then this can be a problem. I can tell by having a look and sometimes professionally clean them for you.