A complete denture replaces all the teeth in the upper or lower jaw. It rests on the gum ridges and, in the upper jaw, gains considerable retention from suction across the palate. Beyond chewing and speech, a well-made denture restores facial support — lips and cheeks lose their underlying structure when teeth are gone, which ages the face noticeably.
What to expect during fabrication
Making a complete denture takes several appointments, and each exists for a reason. Preliminary impressions produce a custom tray; a second, more detailed impression captures the exact shape and functional borders of your ridges. Bite blocks then record the relationship between your jaws, along with the height of your bite and the midline and lip support.
A try-in stage follows, where the teeth are set in wax so you can see and approve the appearance and your dentist at Parkway Dental can verify the bite before anything is finalised. This is your opportunity to ask for changes — once processed in acrylic, adjustments to tooth position are far more limited. The finished denture is then fitted and adjusted.
Immediate dentures
If teeth are being extracted, an immediate denture can be fitted on the same day so you are never without teeth. The trade-off is that gums shrink substantially as they heal over the following months, so an immediate denture needs relining, and often replacing, once healing settles.
Adjusting to dentures
Be prepared for a genuine learning period. Increased saliva, a sense of bulk, and altered speech are normal at first and improve within weeks — reading aloud helps. Start with soft foods cut small, chew on both sides at once to keep the denture stable, and build up gradually.
Sore spots in the first weeks are expected and are adjusted easily; do not try to file the denture yourself. Leave dentures out overnight to let the tissues recover, and clean them daily with a denture brush and non-abrasive cleaner over a basin of water so a drop does not crack them.
Ridges continue to resorb over years, so dentures need periodic relines and eventual replacement. A lower complete denture is the hardest to stabilise; if it remains loose, implant-retained options make a substantial difference.