IMMEDIATE DENTURES

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Immediate dentures (often called "same-day dentures") are complete or partial dentures that are inserted into a patient's mouth immediately following the removal of their natural teeth.

Unlike conventional dentures, which are made after your gums have healed (leaving you without teeth for several months), immediate dentures ensure you never have to appear in public without teeth.

1. Preparation (Before Extraction): While your natural teeth are still present, the dentist takes impressions and bite records of your mouth.
   
2. Fabrication: The dental lab uses these records to fabricate the denture, predicting the shape of your jaw after the teeth are removed.
   
3. Extraction & Placement: On the day of your surgery, your remaining teeth are extracted, and the immediate denture is inserted directly over the fresh extraction sites.
   
4. Healing: The denture acts as a bandage initially, but as your gums heal, they will shrink, and the denture will become loose.
   

• Esthetics: You walk out of the office with a full smile; there is no "toothless" period.
• Protection: The denture acts like a bandage over the extraction sites, which can help reduce bleeding and protect the sockets from trauma (like your tongue or food).
  
• Duplication: Because the denture is made while your natural teeth are still there, it is easier for the dentist to duplicate the original shape, color, and arrangement of your natural teeth.
  

• Fit Changes: This is the most critical factor. As your jawbone and gums heal over the first 3–6 months, they will shrink (resorb). The denture, which fit on day one, will become loose and unstable.
  
• No "Try-In": Since your natural teeth are in the way during fabrication, you cannot try the wax version of the denture in your mouth beforehand to see exactly how it will look.
  
• Cost: They are often more expensive than conventional dentures because they require more follow-up visits and adjustments.
  

Because of the gum shrinkage mentioned above, immediate dentures are never a "one-and-done" procedure. You will typically require:

1. Soft Relines: Temporary, squishy liners placed inside the denture during the first few months to fill the gaps caused by shrinking gums.
   
2. Hard Reline or New Denture: Once healing is complete (usually 5 months later), the denture must either be permanently refitted (hard reline) or replaced entirely with a new conventional denture.

While the hard reline works functionally, dentists recommend a new denture for three specific reasons:

1. The "Blind" Make: Immediate dentures are made "blind"—the dentist guessed where your bone would be before the teeth were pulled. A final denture is made with "eyes open" on your actual healed gum shape.
   
2. The Wax Try-In: This is the biggest advantage. With a new denture, the dentist will set the teeth in wax first. You can put them in, look in a mirror, smile, speak, and say, "I want the front two teeth shorter" or "Make them whiter." You cannot do this with a reline.
3. Wear and Tear: Your immediate denture has likely been ground down, polished, and subjected to soft liners for 6 months. The plastic teeth may already show signs of wear. A hard reline fixes the fit, but it does not fix the teeth.
4. Ultimate Outcome: All possible complications can be discussed and applied to the new final Dentures that give patients the most satisfactory result. the temporary immediate dentures can be used as "back up dentures" when the primary dentures are in service or lost for temporory period.