How to Realign False Teeth

Dentures are custom fit prosthetic dental appliances, made by dentists in conjunction with dental laboratories. Dentures replace missing teeth, providing patients a way to chew and also filling out the bottom half of the face that would be sunken in without it. It is as much aesthetic as it is functional. Over time, the denture fit changes, and loosens, making a reline, or realignment, necessary. Relines fill in areas that have gotten loose, or perhaps, worn thin. A reline is a one-day procedure, the denture being dropped off with the dentist in the morning and retrieved late afternoon.

Instructions

Straighten Your Denture

• 1

  Schedule an appointment with the dentist that made the dentures if possible. If he is not available, 1800dentist.com, can assist in recommending a local dentist that does denture relines.

• 2

  Arrive at the scheduled appointment, don't forget to bring the dentures. The dentist will put the dentures in and check the fit. He will feel around to see of there is adequate suction under the flange -- the rim of the denture. He will check to see if there are any areas that are loose. He will also look for cracks or fractures that can be repaired when the reline is done.

• 3

  Allow the dentist to take an impression for a new reline. This is done with an impression material called rubber base. It smells bad and tastes like it smells, but there is not a better impression material for dentures on the market with regard to picking up detail. The tray that will be used for the reline is the inside of the patient's own denture.

• 4

  Permit the dentist to put the denture with the impression material into your mouth. He will seat it completely and ask for you to stick out your tongue and go from side to side with it. He will also ask you to wrap your lips around his gloved finger. This is how the impression material is distributed evenly, and everywhere it is supposed to go. He will usually let the impression sit for at least five minute for it to solidify.

• 5

  Open wide and relax while the dentist removes the denture or dentures from your mouth. It now has a perfect fit, so it may be a bit of a job for him to get it out. Once out, he will inspect the impression to make sure all necessary detail is present. He will instruct his assistant to assist you in cleaning up any remnants of impression material on your face, while he labels a lab prescription with your name and what he wants done to the denture. The lab will pick up and reline the denture returning it later in the day.

• 6

  Return to the office at the appointed time to receive the relined denture. The dentist will place it in your mouth himself, and check again, the same areas he checked before, to see of he finds improvement. Most likely he will. He will request you speak specific words, like sixty-six and Mississippi. This makes sure no reline material is where it does not belong. He will then let you close and feel around. There is usually no need for adjustment, the denture fits tighter and better, and the patient is sent home, told to return if the need for adjustments arise.