Bespoke Denture Fittings and Repairs

Complete dentures replace all the teeth in either or both arches. The teeth on the dentures replace the teeth and the pink acrylic replaces the gum and bone that has resorbed. Whether you want natural-looking or hard-wearing teeth, there are various options available.

At Smiles (MB) Limited, we will always select the right colour, shape, and size for the individual patient’s needs. The acrylic and palate can be shaped and textured to look and feel natural. We also take care to ensure dentures are never thicker than necessary to ensure the denture feels comfortable and not too bulky.

A partial denture is a denture made to replace a few missing teeth within a single dental arch (jaw). Individual or groups of missing teeth are replaced with teeth of matching shade and shape; these teeth are surrounded by pink acrylic and are attached to a pink acrylic base of metal (chrome cobalt) framework.

As well as filling in the spaces created by missing teeth, this prevents other teeth from changing position. Precision partial dentures are removable, with internal attachments or clasps that attach to the adjacent teeth or crowns. These are made to look as natural as possible to match real teeth.

Also known as metal dentures, partial denture frameworks are made in chrome cobalt. These are thinner and stronger than acrylic and since the metal conducts temperature, the denture is less noticeable in the mouth. What’s more, chrome cobalt dentures stay in place better due to the use of rests and clasps.

Many patients who have an acrylic denture they can’t get on with choose this option and find it preferable. We rarely come across a patient changing from a chrome cobalt denture to an acrylic denture.

Complete dentures can also have chrome cobalt elements to them. In the case of a complete upper denture with full palatal coverage, the palate section can be made of metal. This allows the palate to be thinner than if it were acrylic and allows the transfer of temperature from food or drink, thus enhancing taste and the experience of eating.

For complete lower dentures, the metal element can be incorporated to improve strength. Implant-retained dentures will generally have a metal element to them, which improves the strength as the denture will be as small as possible because the implants will do the job of keeping the denture in place as opposed to natural suction.

Plus, the strength provided to the denture by the metal is important as patients have been known to break their denture when removing it to clean as the implants hold the denture in so well.

Implant dentures are dentures that are retained or supported by implants; the denture will look very similar to a conventional denture and in terms of natural appearance will be identical. The significant difference will be the retention and stability of the denture.

Advances in denture provision technology have enabled us to scan an impression digitally and design a tooth position using a computer, rather than making a conventional mould. From this design, there are various methods of producing the denture, including:

• Denture Base Milled from a Solid Blank of Material, in Which Teeth Are Then Set
• Upper or Lower Denture Printed through 3D-Printing Techniques
• Whole Denture Milled out of a Block of 2-Coloured Material (Gum and Tooth Colours)

In specific cases, we can work flexibly to create small sectional dentures. This is ideal for replacing just a few teeth, or in cases where there is a lot of tooth support available. The main drawback of flexible dentures is that the material is not reparable, nor is it as aesthetic as acrylic. It’s also less straightforward, and sometimes impossible, to add teeth dentures made from a flexible material.

Denture technology has come a long way over the years, and we are committed to ensuring that all the dentures we make look as natural as possible for the wearer. Some teeth look more natural than others in their own right, and we complement this with the detail we put into our gum work – this includes colour-toning to avoid an undesirable bright-pink effect.

If you desire, we can set teeth with gaps or overlapping if this is what you desire. You will be able to see this at your try-in appointment so that you can confirm this is how you want your denture to look. Furthermore, we can characterise teeth to a patient’s specific requirements, including:

• Fluorosis (White Spots)
• Crack Lines
• Discolouration Marks
• Fillings or a Gold Tooth or Inlay

Good cosmetic dentures can significantly enhance the way you feel about your smile and in the right hands, cosmetic dentures can provide an immediate confidence boost. When making bespoke cosmetic dentures, our technicians consider several criteria:

• Fit and Stability
• Texture and Feeling in the Mouth
• Aesthetics

The best approach is to discuss your cosmetic denture requirements with us during your initial consultation and subsequent designing appointments to ensure that we understand and deliver a denture that meets your specific needs. Ideally, we want cosmetic dentures to feel as close to natural as the patient has since their teeth were removed.

If you are due to have teeth extracted, it’s possible to schedule an immediate denture. This way you can have your denture fitted as soon as possible post-extraction, eliminating additional gaps or the appearance of missing teeth for any time during the healing period.

In most cases, immediate dentures will require relining following the healing of the gum and the settling down of the bone. We will also reline your denture as quickly as possible, usually managing to do this on the same day. Alternatively, or in addition to having the immediate replacement denture relined, we can produce a definitive denture - this suits cases where the immediate denture was made as a transitional denture.