BY ELISHA VANDOR - Tuesday, May 12, 2020 Why are you experiencing loose denture problems when everyone else you know seems to be fine with their dentures? There are two textbook answers: the denture could be made incorrectly and/or it was poorly fitted.
The solutions to these textbook answers are straightforward. If the denture was made incorrectly, then you'll need a new one that's made properly from the beginning. Second, if the denture was manufactured correctly, but poorly fitted, then we may be able to do some adjustments or relining and get it back on track. Once those two are ruled out or corrected, then what else could be the problem? The answer is found by assessing your bone structure. A loose upper denture is more uncommon than a loose lower denture. The upper denture uses the concave shape of the roof of your mouth to create suction, which helps it stay in place. When you run your tongue along the top of your mouth you should feel its curvature. An individual with a flatter palette usually has less suction. In addition, a lack of bone structure can compound the problem. The very design of a denture is formed to fit perfectly over your existing upper and lower jaw bone (that's the bone structure I was talking about earlier). When there's little to no bone left, what 's holding it in? Well , mostly gravity, your tongue, and some denture adhesive. You could reline it every 6-months, but that's not a real solution. The reality is, a jaw bone without natural teeth never stops shrinking. So it's common to run into this issue of reoccurring looseness after YEARS of wearing dentures without having this problem. There is one solution! I like to use a partial denture as an example. Partial dentures use anchor teeth to hold in tight. Whenever a partial denture starts to feel loose, we tighten the clasps around the anchor teeth. Well, a full denture needs anchor teeth again! You probably won't regrow natural teeth, so a dental implant is used instead. What's nice about using two dental implants to hold in your denture is that you can still remove your denture, clean it, and maintain healthy oral hygiene. Of course, the easiest way for you to find a solution is to come see us and discuss what's been happening. We are confident we can help!