Preparing For Dentures

As I mentioned before there were 3 appointments that I had to make with my dentist prior to having my teeth extracted.  The extraction date is set for February 25, 2015.  It gives me 3 weeks from my initial consultation until the extraction date.  The second appointment was set for February 11, 2015.  I had to have impressions taken of my teeth so that they could have a mold of my teeth to work with.  The mold of my dentures would be made from this impression.  I didn't realize until a friend of mine told me, but the lab technician that makes the dentures is an actual artist.  They actually sculpt the teeth to get them as natural looking as possible.  The quality of the denture is determined by the skill level of the artist making them.  He graduated from an art school with a degree in mechanical design (or something to that effect).  It is the degree required to produce the special effects seen in movies.  He has fellow artist friends who have jobs working in the field designing dentures in the lab.  I don't know if all dentures are made this way, but this is how mine were done.

Impressions are made by taking a metal tray that will fit inside your mouth comfortably.  The dentist or technician will place the empty tray inside your mouth to see if it is the appropriate size prior to taking the impression.  Then, they will place a substance inside it that is about the consistency of a thick, goopy paste.  It is almost the consistency of Silly Puddy or Play Dough.  It feels very cold and odd inside your mouth.  The dentist or technician will push that tray into your mouth.  You have to keep your mouth as still as possible during this procedure.  Make sure to keep your tongue still as well.  Otherwise you'll have to have it done again.  Might as well be good the first time so they don't have to keep repeating it.  They will repeat this to the bottom of your mouth.  Some people may gag when it is done so movement may not be something you can control.  They can use a spray on the back of your throat to help prevent gagging if it becomes a problem.  I didn't find the process to be too uncomfortable and I didn't gag at any point during the procedure.  They did have to repeat the impressions of my lower teeth 3 times before getting them to my dentists level of perfection.  The top impression was perfect on the first try.

After the impressions were taken, I was able to choose the color of my dentures from the Vita shade guide (shown below).  The shades A1 - D4 are shades of natural teeth.  The shades M1, M2, and M3 are shades of teeth after a professional whitening treatment.  According to my research, you should choose a color that most closely matches the white parts of your eyes.  This is to keep the overall appearance of your face balanced.  Some people don't want to call attention to their teeth so they would prefer that people see their entire face rather than make their teeth the focal point.  My dental technician urged me to go with the shade A1, but I didn't think that was white enough.  I went into this thinking that I was going to get the brightest white that I could find (within normal limits of human teeth).  I wanted to go with shade B1 because it seems whitest to me of the natural shades.  Then, I noticed the M1 shade which is even more white.  My dental technician had a fit.  She kept telling me that these shades were both really white.  She told me that they were going to look a lot more white in my mouth.  I figured that this is an immediate denture so I would go with B1 for now and if I felt it could be more white, then I can always choose M1 for my permanent teeth.

This is the shade chart I was shown in order to make my choice of denture shade

The third appointment was scheduled for February 19, 2015.  This appointment was for a bite registry.  This process is very brief.  The dental technician brought out a piece of dental wax and asked me to bite into it.  This was to determine whether I had a natural overbite or underbite to my teeth.  It is done to ensure that your teeth are lining up properly in your mouth after they are made.  The idea is to match everything up as closely to your natural teeth as possible.  This will ensure that the pressure inside your mouth is more evenly distributed.  

The next appointment I had was the actual extraction date.  So initial consultation, impressions, and bite registry.  Then the extraction date.  I'm not really nervous now, but I imagine as the appointment comes closer that I will become a nervous wreck.  I'm trying to focus on the idea that I will feel better when it is over and I will not have all of the nerve pain in my mouth anymore.

Note:  I wrote this on February 11, 2015.  I did not get it published until February 28, 2015.  The extraction has already been done at this point.  I got a bit behind with the editing portion so I'm posting these daily until I get caught up.

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