• Complete Dentures for Dental Patients in Highlands Ranch Denver Dentist

Complementary Denture Consultation for Dental Patients in Highlands Ranch Denver Dentist

A complementary denture consultation provides the following:

• It provides a no-cost visit to discuss your case with the doctor to see if dentures, a new denture or an implant supported denture is for you.

•       It allows you to have your questions answered ahead of time and to decide if our Highlands Ranch Dental Office is the right fit for you.

•  It gives the Dr's James and Candace DeLapp the opportunity to evaluate the level of complexity of your case.  Somedentures are very complex and the Dr's Candace and James DeLapp can at least give you an "idea" of "what "might" be possible"!

• The doctors can give you recommendations of what techniques that will give you the best results and what techniques are unlikely to meet your needs.

• Is our Highlands Ranch Dental Office convenient to you?  Most of our patients come from the Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Centennial, Castle Pines area as well as the Englewood and Arapahoe County area of the South Denver Metro Area.

Cosmetic Dentures what are they?

            Many patients who require dentures are interested in the cosmetic options that dentures can provide.  These options include:

The ability to choose their ideal tooth shade... some whiter... rarely darker.

• You can choose a variety ofshapes of teeth.  Some shapes are flat... others rounded... oval... etc.

• We have the ability to position the teeth in the arch to give an enhanced effect.

• In patients who have old worn out dentures we have the ability to "open the bite" (to a point) which can decrease "wrinkles and folds that make us look prematurely older.

•  For some patients, we can fill out your lips that can decrease the effect of sunken cheeks.

How long do dentures last?

             Good question but no set pats answer.  It is like ... how long will my car last? It depends on how you drive and maintain your car and the same goes for dentures.  The better care you give your denture... the more careful you are... the longer your dentures will last.  What you do not have control over is the normal deterioration of the pink plastic over the gum ridges and the wear on the plastic teeth.  As a general rule of thumb, "most" dentures last 7 years... some last longer... some shorter. Smoking, coffee, wine, and etc. can lead to premature failure of this material.  What happens is the material becomes brittle and patches, repairs, and losing the teeth in the denture begin to happen. In addition, older dentures pick up odors in the worn out acrylic. When we "attempt" to repair the denture... the new acrylic does not bond effectively to the old acrylic and the joint is not very strong.  The new "repair" will fail (at some time) and you come back wondering why the repair failed (or the tooth came out again). Most patients are disappointed that the repair is ineffective and it is the condition of their old denture not necessarily the repair.  A vast majority of the denture repairs the Dr's James and Candace DeLapp make are done by a dental laboratory to insure the strongest repair possible but they do fail.  Most of the time it is a matter of just ... when! After several years we can reline older dentures as the ridges shrink in time.  A poor fitting denture (due to this resorption) speed up the loss of bone with a poor fitting denture compared to one that fits a ridge. Our recommendation frequently is to make a new denture.

What are Complete Dentures?

 Complete dentures are a prosthetic device that attempts to replace your teeth on the upper and lower arches.  Essentially it is plastic teeth that are embedded in a pink plastic to simulate the color of your gums.  The pink acrylic is formed to your gum ridges (residual ridges) in an "attempt" to capture or saddle the ridge and gives "some" stability to the denture. 

"Some" stability.   Dentures both upper and lower have "some" stability.  In "some" cases... the stability is no greater than 1/3 of your natural teeth.  In "many" cases the stability is less to considerably less than 1/3.  For lower dentures (mandibular) the stability approaches zero!  We have described the stability as a glass cup on a tabletop, obviously, no stability!  In "most" instances the mandibular denture is "balanced" in your mouth by your lips and cheeks, frequently no to little suction or retention.

Patients with teeth looking to have dentures. 

There can be a time where costs and prognosis do not allow us to practically keep your teeth.  If the situation dictates, it is best if you have the opportunity to keep some of your lower teeth to function as anchors as a lower denture never fits.  If you can, keeping teeth that can serve as anchors helps mitigate the slipping and sliding of your denture.  Other alternatives can be retaining root tips on the lower teeth and placing Zest" anchors (or similar type of attachment).  This allows the lower denture to snap into place and provide "some" (notice how we said "some" not great) retention to the lower denture. Immediate ("same-day") dentures are an option for Dental Patients in the Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Castle Pines and Greater Denver area.

Why does a lower denture fit so much more poorly than an upper denture?   

A lower denture has so many things stacked against it and include but not limited to:

• A thin skinny ridge in which to saddle the denture to... not a big broad palate that is seen in the upper.
• The tongue is in the way and its movement can contribute to the instability of the lower denture.
• The skinny bony ridge and gum that the lower denture sits on shrinks (resorbs) three (3x) faster than the upper (maxillary) ridge. So what is there melts away and has less and less support with time.
• With time... there is no ridge to saddle anything to.
• As the lower ridge shrinks away... the bone can become so thin that the lower jaw (mandible) can fracture quite easily.
• Teeth (and dental implants) act to stimulate the bone of the jaws especially in the mandible. When they are removed, the stimulus to keep the bone is gone and the bone resorbs.  This is why dentists try to have Dental Patients either keep their teeth as long as practical or ... have Dental Implants placed.  Implants are place for two reasons:
• To act as a stabilizing factor for resistance and retention of the denture.
•  Help reduce the bone resorption found when teeth are removed... most critical on the lower (mandibular) ridge.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best...where do tissue supported dentures rank for fit and stability?

1.  Lower denture and some upper dentures ... i.e. poor
2.  Some upper dentures... i.e. poor.
3. Some upper dentures... not good!
4. Someupper dentures (this is the best case scenario... you could be less than this!)
5. Neither upper of lower fit on this scale
6. Neither upper of lower fit on this scale
7. Neither upper of lower fit on this scale
8. Implant supported denture
9.  Implant supported denture with more implants
10. Complete implant supported denture tooth by tooth.

 Cost of Immediate Dentures,Complete Dentures and Implant Supported Dentures (costs circa 2009)

What denture patients present with is considerably variable and to state one fee or even a set of fees would be misleading at best.  The fees presented are just to give you a "ballpark figure" of cases and each case and patient is unique unto himself or herself.  Obviously, these are routine cases, moderate and complex cases and each has its own level of complexity and corresponding costs.  At Cottonwood Dental Group P.C. our Highlands Ranch Dentists customonize your care and the "complementary cosmetic  denture consultation" already mentioned can give you at least an "idea" of where to start. Some of the categories below are:     

Immediate Dentures for  Dental Patients in Highlands Ranch

Of course there is the cost borne in having the teeth extracted by the oral surgeon.  This "may" run from $ 100- 200 per tooth (Circa 2008).  Impacted or surgical extraction run more and depends upon how difficult they are to remove.  The oral surgeon can give you an "estimate" of the costs but we truly do not know until time of the surgery.

•  Two (2)dentures are made per arch (two (2) upper and two (2) lower) and the cost for both is higher to account for this.  Circa 2007 the cost is $3600.00 or $7200.00 for upper and lower.  When the teeth are taken out ... a "temporary" denture is placed until healing is complete.  Then a second esthetic denture is made from scratch.
•  Dr. James and Candace DeLapp, Highlands Ranch Dentists, only doimmediate dentures followed by a second denture.  We have never had a patient get used to dentures when they first had their teeth extracted (with no immediate denture) and then had a denture made after healing. The doctors do not like making "only" an immediate "single" denture they cannot control the esthetics pre-extraction.

Replacement Denture

• The cost of a replacement denture in more predictable but variations in cost does occur.  Again consider taking advantage of the no-cost consultation to at least get a ballpark idea of how complex your case is.
• The cost of a replacement denture is approximately $ 2750.00 per arch (or $ 5500.00 for both arches Circa 2008).  This assumes no surgical intervention to assist in retention of other problems that might need to be dealt with (denture hyperplasia e.g.).
• This denture typically takes "at least" five (5) appointments as follows:
• Primary impressions: Initial impression in order to make a custom impression tray for your mouth.
• Secondary Impressions: These impressions are taken in order to get a more accurate more detailed impression of you tissues and your tissue "borders". We hope this impression is an average of the fluctuations in the tissue firmness in your mouth but this can vary day by day.  This tissue variation can be responsible for denture sore or the intermittent "fit" of the dentures.
• Wax bite appointment:  This appointment is to get the relationship between your upper and lower teeth... how much tooth display we want to work with etc.
• Wax-try-in appointment: This appointment is where the denture teeth are actually fitted into the wax rims and we can get and ideal of the esthetics (not the fit!) of the teeth.  This appointment could range from one to "several" appointments.  Typically, but not always, we have the patients take the wax-try-in home and have their spouse or significant other look at.  The teeth are in a soft wax so the patient cannot function or use the denture it is only for the "looks' of the denture.  When the teeth are in wax it is relatively easy to replace the teeth... flair them... rotate them and etc.  Once the denture teeth have been processed and are imbedded in acrylic our only option might be starting completely over (with complete start over costs).  This is why this visit is so important! At this visit we have you sign a wax-try-in agreement, which says the esthetics, is to your approval and you do not want anything changed.  If after processing the denture you want something changed (remember it is too late) the costs can be the same ($2750 per arch).
• Process and delivery appointment: This appointment is after the dental laboratory melts out the wax (lost wax technique) and replaces the wax with acrylic.  We then deliver the denture and make bite adjustments.  Bite adjustments are very likely at this visit as the acrylic expands and shrinks differing amounts in different cases.
• Follow up visit may be one or many.  Depending upon your daily tissue fluctuations (a sea of mucosa) the denture may develop sores periodically.

Dentures with "many" implants to full fixed teeth

Dentures with many Dental Implants are impossible to even give a ballpark figure to no matter what the year. Costs could be from the cost of a car... a luxury vehicle to a condominium or house. Just no way to predict until specifically planned after complete bone analysis and evaluation from both Dr's James and Candace DeLapp Highlands Ranch Implant Dentists and their referring oral surgeon. Most patients do not require or request this type of intervention.

Teeth in a day... sounds too good to be true... well it may or may not be!

              Going in one day and having dental implants with the teeth  a  day "can" occur but not always.  Simply put... it depends upon how "tight" the Dental Implant can be placed into the bone at the time of surgery.  If the bone is dense enough... the Dental  Implant and the supporting tooth can be placed in one visit.  If the implant cannot be tightened down secure enough, the implant needs time to osseo-integrate (fuse) to the bone, which may take weeks to several months.  In this scenario the teeth would NOT be placed in one day.  There is no way to anticipate which Dental  Implants will or will not tighten down and this is why this is a "definite maybe".  The number of visits needed prior to this "teeth in a day" involves radiographic analysis (dual scan ICAT) and a laboratory fabricated surgical stint and corresponding implant crowns. We discuss with our patients that it is "possible" (not probable) and to plan more visits and a healing time of 6 weeks to three (3) months again, at our Highlands Ranch Dental office we customonize you treatment.

What is the process for dentures if I wish to proceed?

The steps for complete dentures depend upon the complexity of your case.  Getting the most optimum outcome is our goal and we recommend starting our denture case with the following homework to customize your case:

•  A traditional dental examination: This is where everything begins, the foundation.
•  Diagnostic Radiographs:  This allows us to evaluate the health of your teeth or your ridge to determine if you are a candidate for dentures or Dental Implants.
•  An ICAT CAT scan: These scans are used for complex cases and/or implant cases.
•  Extra oral Digital Dental Photographs: These dental photographs document current tooth position that may or may not be duplicated.
•  Intra-oral Photographs:  Photographs that document the existing teeth or ridges present.
•  Initial Impressions of your mouth for diagnostic purposes:  These moulds help determine the complexity of you case.

Consultation:   This is where Dr.'s Candace and James DeLapp, Highlands Ranch Dentists put all the pieces of the puzzle together.  You need to know the risks of treatment as well as the risks of no treatment.  You need to decide if routine dentures are going to work for you or are you going to need some type of implant to stabilize the denture "some" or a "ton"! Remember a lower denture never fits... it is simply balanced in the mouth and gravity (hopefully) helps hold it in. Your choices include but are not limited to:

• No treatment.
• Traditional denture acknowledging the poor fit most have.
• Dental Implant with "better" retention.
• Many Dental Implants the best retention.

Make a Dental appointment now!

Feel free to make an initial no-charge Dental Consultation  appointment with our Highlands Ranch Dental Office at (303) 694-9740 to see..."if" or...what type of denture orimplant supported denture you wish to pursue.