Why Are My Dentures Loose? This is the second most common complaint. Why are dentures loose? Just take a look at the picture below. There is hardly any jaw bone left in this patient's lower jaw. How is the dentist going to make a denture that sits firmly on flat gums? Full lower dentures are often loose for this reason. There is no ridge and contrary to what some patients think, a ridge cannot be created by making the "drain" of the denture deeper. Dentures fit in the mouth because an accurate impression of their mouth is taken. There is no way a dnetist can make a denture for a high ridge and expect it to fit over a low ridge and be retentive. Surprising, having a "drain" that is not deep enough is the usual criticism that many patients have for their dentists when their dentures end up loose. It's just like wearing a longer pair of pants to make yourself look taller. The situation you see above is not hopeless. Please check out our overdentures for how you can solve problems of loose dentures with implant support and retention. What about partials? The usual request (sometimes a demand) is "I don't want any wires". For partial dentures, the situation is usually not so bad because there are remaining teeth that the denture can hook on to. If you reject these hooks or clasps, you are rejecting retention. Yes, clasps on teeth do promote decay and they are unsightly, but keeping the denture and the teeth clean will prevent that. Nobody says that dentures are perfect. without clasps, dentures will be much less than perfect. They may end up loose and uncomfortable. What about full dentures? How do they stay in the mouth? Well, there is this thing called peripheral seal. The denture (especially the upper full denture) sits like a cup over the jaw and with saliva in between, there is an effective sealing effect. Obviously, the seal will break if there are holes in the dentures or if the denture is too short. Yet, minimal coverage is always on the patient's mind. Some compare their dentures with their friends'. Why do some dentures stay in the mouth even when there is less than optimal coverage? Well, it's usually because these folks have situations working in their favour. Example? Favourable undercuts, high bony ridge, sticky saliva etc. Another very commonly encountered situation is what we call a free-end saddle. The red arrow gives a hint as to what will happen in this situation. There is no stopping or supporting tooth at the end of the saddle area. Hence, there is a tendency for the denture to sink and/or slide backwards. That's the reason why many patients with free-end saddles never wear their dentures. It's just too uncomfortable. While chrome dentures can solve part of the problems associated with free-end saddles, a better way to deal with this unfavourable situation is to place an implant to resist the sinking of the denture. Flabby "ridges" are not part of the bony ridge. They are composed of soft fibrous tissue and they make the ridge appear higher than they actually are. When a denture sits on a flabby ridge, it wobbles. Hence, the presence of fibrous tissue in place of bone on a ridge will give rise to an unstable base. Any denture that sits on such a base will not sit well. The solution to this problem is surgical removal of the fibrous tissue. The true ridge that is reveal after surgery may be surprisingly low. Implants may need to be placed to support the denture. Please call 62358316 for appointments or email us or Be Our Facebook Fan