Complete Full Dentures
Complete full dentures have to fill in all the space that has gone where your gums and teeth once were. The pink bases are usually made of hard based acrylic/polymer, which is moulded around and chemically joined to the teeth. They can also be combined with chrome cobalt, usually in the upper full denture, for added strength and a much thinner palate. Depending on varying clinical mouth shapes, the variations in the shape, size and bulk of the pink parts of the dentures and teeth are limitless. They should not be made with flexible bases but often can have silicone soft linings under the hard bases to make them more comfortable for some patients with sensitive gums.
For full denture considerations, the scenarios and problems are completely different from partials.
- Is it a straight forward replacement of worn dentures you have been happy with?
- Do we use the copy denture technique to copy your existing complete dentures’ appearance by doing the mould in your denture?
- Do you have problems to solve with fit and function, pain, ability to speak properly, chew your food, or loose dentures?
- Do the denture teeth’ appearance and position need changing- more lip support, tooth shape, tooth shade, and position?
- Do you have a photo of how your real teeth used to look so we can copy how you used to look with photo mapping?
- Do you have an unsatisfactory new private or NHS denture with fit, function or appearance issues?
- Can we make thinner and stronger complete upper alloy dentures? Yes.
- Can we make full upper and lower dentures with soft silicone linings? Yes – suitable for sensitive or bony ridges.
I know thousands of patients that I have helped wear complete full dentures with no problems. Still, there is a small minority that can have more difficulty because of either their personal adaptive tolerances or unsuitable mouth and gum shapes. Again it is far too complicated to generalise. Still, I usually change some of the tooth positions and shape settings on most of the complete new sets of dentures I make for my patients to improve them compared to their current dentures.
Complete full dentures when made properly.
- Restore your facial vertical dimensions, avoiding the collapsed look
- Allow patients to speak properly.
- Provide facial lip support restoring your appearance
- Allow patients to chew
- Restore your self-confidence and self-esteem