DENTURES
BROKEN DENTURES
Even
though dentures are fabricated from extremely durable materials,
they will break, wear out, a tooth will come out, or their fit
will change. Then its time for denture repair.
Accidents happen,
dogs still like to chew on plates of the dental kind, and trash
compacters have never taken kindly to dentures. In fact, it
is frequently not a matter of "if," but rather a matter
of "when" a denture will become broken, lost, or damaged
beyond repair.
One can be assured
that a problem will happen when least expected, and immediate,
usually important, plans definitely will be altered unless a
person is prepared.
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Damaged
Denture
How
to Expect the Unexpected and Be Prepared
A short-term
use duplicate denture will bridge the gap while a regular denture
is being repaired, renovated, or replaced. Sometimes this type
of denture is referred to as an "embarrassment denture"
because it helps a person avoid the embarrassment of being without
teeth in an emergency or during planned denture maintenance.
While this type of denture may be made at any time from an existing
functional denture, it generally is fabricated immediately after
a new denture is made. The embarrassment denture is neither
as accurate nor as esthetic and durable as the original, but
it is adequate and only meant for short-term use. The cost is
generally considerably less than the original denture.
Such an interim prosthesis may be relined annually and adjusted
in advance to fit the current changing shape of an individual's
jaws, and therefore be ready to use at a moment's notice.
However, some individuals choose to have their embarrassment
denture relined and adjusted only when they need the short-term
denture. Following this latter course means that they will have
to wait to wear their interim denture until an appointment can
be scheduled with a dentist to complete the reline and any adjustments.
But a reline for an embarrassment denture can be done in the
dentist's office during a single appointment so a patient may
leave with it refitted in the mouth.
In either case, a person would not be without a prosthesis while
their regular denture is being worked on.
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The
Embarrassment Denture
Facilitates
Planned Periodic Maintenance
All dentures need to be periodically relined to accommodate
the constant change in shape of a person's jaws. There are also
times when the plastic body of a denture needs to be changed
due to deterioration, or the entire denture replaced because
of wear or poor fit from changing mouth conditions that can
no longer be remedied by relining.
While relines can be completed in one appointment office visit,
more durable relines may require that a dentist keep a denture
for several days. Replacing the plastic body of a denture (called
a rebase) takes several days and making a replacement denture
takes several weeks.
It becomes easy
to see how an embarrassment denture would solve being without
one's regular denture for a period of time, even for planned
maintenance, while getting on with one's life.
