Specialisations
Dentures and other removable prostheses
If you are missing teeth and it has been found that your remaining teeth need to be removed as well, only a full prosthesis is an option. This is a new and often difficult situation in which a psychological aspect may play a role in addition to the dental issues. You need to become accustomed to functioning with a prosthesis; both eating and talking may take some getting used to.
What does the treatment involve?
- Depending on your dental situation, one to four appointments are required to create an emergency prosthesis.
- On the day of the final appointment, your teeth are removed and the prosthesis is placed directly over the wounds.
- You come for a wound check-up 24-48 hours later.
- A choice may be made to remove the posterior molars earlier to optimise the fit of the prosthesis.
- Only when the dentures are ready will we remove your last teeth. So you never walk around without front teeth.
- You come to the practice for a wound check-up 24-48 hours after the prosthesis is placed. Try to keep the prosthesis in until this appointment. This is because the prosthesis acts as a wound dressing. In addition, you may not get the prosthesis back in if the swelling increases after taking it out. During the wound check-up, we also explain how to keep the prosthesis clean and how to perform wound care.
- You will visit in the following weeks if you develop pressure spots. This varies greatly from person to person. The need to visit ranges from several times a week to about once a month.
- After two months, the bone and gums will have already shrunk considerably and the fit will no longer be optimal. We then insert a soft layer (soft liner) into the prosthesis to restore a better fit over the next few months.
- After 4-5 months, the fit will again need to be adjusted due to shrinking of the jaw. Once again, we can then apply a new layer in the prosthesis. Usually, this is a hard layer (rebasing). This requires you to go without the prosthesis from morning to noon.
Your jaw will continue to shrink throughout your life, but the rate at which it does so decreases over time. You will need a new liner in the dentures more often at the beginning than after several years. It is also possible that the teeth in the dentures may become worn or a crack may occur in the dentures, for example if they are dropped. You visit once a year for a check-up of your dentures, but certainly also to have the health of your gums checked. We then look for fungal growth, for example, and abnormal growth of the gums due to ill-fitting dentures.
It may be that, despite all efforts, the functioning of the dentures leaves much to be desired and your jaw shape is such that no improvement can be expected with a new liner or new dentures. An application can then be made for click dentures on two implants (lower jaw) or 4 to 6 implants (upper jaw).
Replacement dentures
The various appointments are:
- Initial impression
- Precision impressions with individually made impression trays
- Bite impression with wax walls (sometimes in two stages)
- Fitting phase; prosthetic arrangement is made in wax
- Placement of prosthesis
A partial prosthesis
- A partial plate prosthesis (plate for short) is a denture, but not for all teeth. The material and palate covering are largely the same. Creating a plate takes 1 to 4 appointments, depending on your dental situation. This option is especially suitable as a temporary solution (for example, during implantology treatment) or if you are slowly moving toward a full denture.
- A frame prosthesis (frame for short) is a more luxurious version of the plate with a cast metal base and anchors around your remaining teeth. A frame sits more securely than a plate and is often more slender and therefore more comfortable to wear. It is important that the teeth on which the frame rests are healthy. The creation of a frame prosthesis usually takes 4 to 5 appointments.
