If the patient has an overdenture and undergoes oral surgery (i.e. tooth extraction, dental implant surgery, bone graft, etc.) they are advised to have their old overdenture (removable denture) to relined. Thanks to the reline the denture remains comfortable and perfectly “aligns” with the new anatomic relations. This reline is carried out by the dentist at the chairside without the denture being sent to dental laboratory, that is, the patient will not have to go without a denture for several days. The procedure is quick and efficient and will make the denture comfortable again.
The procedure of relining the immediate denture with a soft reline material
Step 1: Roughening the surface of the denture in contact with the gum with a drill ensuring better adhesion of the reline material to the denture. If gingiva formers (healing abutments) were placed in, the denture has to be milled at the site of the gingiva formers in order to prevent the denture from wiggling. If subjected to pressure during healing the implant may be rejected! Please remove the immediate denture during healing when at home and at night.
Step 2: Degreasing the surface of the denture
Step 3: Spreading glue over the roughened surfaces to ensure better adhesion
Step 4: the admeasurement, mixture and filling of the reline material into the denture
Step 5: The denture filled with reline material is placed inside the mouth and the patient is requested to bring the denture into occlusal position until the reline material bonds (approx. 5 minutes)
Step 6: With the reline material having bonded the dentures are removed from the mouth. It is readily seen in the pictures above that the material perfectly blends in with its environment without contrasting with the colour thereof. The denture is now fully in line with the altered anatomic relations, comfortable to wear and stable. The material having spilt over the edges of the denture can easily be trimmed away with a pair of scissors.
In the course of healing the anatomic relations constantly change. It is important to make sure that the denture does not wiggle on the implants and gingiva formers (healing abutments) as this puts the denture at a risk for breakage, let alone the fact that exposure to overload and pressure adversely affects the healing process. In such cases patients are advised to wear the denture for as short a time as possible.
Unfortunately in some cases following bone graft (e.g. sinus lift) or the placement of implants the anatomic relations may change to such an extent that relining the old denture is no longer practicable. In such instances a new immediate denture is necessary that fits the altered anatomic relations.
It is important to minimise the wearing time of immediate dentures following a bone graft and/or the placement of implants. We recommend only to wear the immediate denture at work or at places where smiling and talking are inevitable. When at home, immediately remove the denture.
Please keep the denture and mouth clean. Cleaning the denture (with a denture brush), the oral cavity and the tongue is encouraged after each meal. Make sure the bonegrafted/implanted area is not exposed to pressure, and the immediate denture does not “wiggle” on the implants. This does not only make the denture liable to breakage but also adversely affects the osseointegration of the implant.
Pressure exerted by the denture may decrease blood circulation in the gums, hinder healing, cause cracking and infection, or worst of all, bring on the rejection of the implant, however successful the dental implant surgery was. More often than not, immediate dentures have caused bone resorption and implant rejection. In case of cracking you must return to the clinic to have your denture adjusted. This is rather a short but nonetheless vital procedure.