The prospect of having multiple teeth extracted can be daunting, and one of the primary concerns for patients is the thought of having to go without teeth during the healing period. At İnci Diş, we understand this completely. That is why we offer healing dentures—also known as immediate dentures—as a compassionate and essential part of the full-mouth restoration process. A healing denture is a transitional prosthesis that is prepared in advance and placed in your mouth on the very same day your teeth are extracted. It acts as a comfortable "bridge," allowing you to maintain your appearance, confidence, and basic function while your gums and jawbone heal, before you receive your final, permanent restoration. This approach ensures you walk out of our clinic with a complete smile, ready to begin the next chapter of your life with dignity and confidence.
The Important Dual Role of a Healing Denture
A healing denture serves several critical functions that go far beyond simple aesthetics. Our expert prosthodontists design them to be a therapeutic and protective appliance during the crucial initial healing phase.
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Aesthetic and Psychological Benefit: The most immediate and powerful benefit is that you are never without teeth. You can continue to smile, speak, and interact socially without the self-consciousness that comes with having visible gaps or no teeth at all. This psychological comfort is invaluable.
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Protective "Bandage" Effect: The denture base acts like a bandage over the sensitive extraction sites. It helps to control bleeding, protects the delicate tissues from irritation from food, and shields the underlying blood clots that are essential for proper healing. Many patients find this coverage provides significant comfort.
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Functional and Speech Guide: While you will need to stick to a soft diet initially, a healing denture allows you to perform basic chewing functions. More importantly, it helps you to begin adapting your speech patterns to a prosthesis, reducing the learning curve when you receive your final denture or bridge.
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Maintaining Facial Structure: Teeth and their roots provide support for your lips and cheeks. By placing a denture immediately, we prevent the "sunken-in" facial appearance that can occur after extractions, maintaining your natural facial contours from day one.
What to Expect: The Reality of Living with a Healing Denture
Transparency is a core value at İnci Diş. While a healing denture is a fantastic tool, it's important for patients to have realistic expectations during the healing journey.
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Initial Fit and Comfort: Because the denture is made from a model of your jaw before extractions, its initial fit is based on an expert estimation of how your gums will look post-surgery. It will not fit as snugly or precisely as a final denture made on fully healed gums.
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Adjustments Are Necessary and Expected: As your gums and jawbone heal over the next several months, they will naturally shrink and change shape. This is a normal part of the process. As this happens, your healing denture will become loose. You will need to return to our clinic for several adjustment appointments and "relines," where we add material to the inside of the denture to improve its fit and keep it comfortable.
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A Temporary Solution: A healing denture is designed to be a transitional appliance. It serves its purpose beautifully for the 4-6 month healing period, after which a definitive, long-term solution will be created.
The Process: Preparing Your Healing Denture Before Surgery
The success of an immediate denture relies on careful planning and preparation before your surgical appointment.
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Pre-Surgical Impressions: In the appointments leading up to your extractions, we will take highly accurate impressions (or digital scans) of your mouth with your remaining natural teeth still in place. We also record your bite and discuss the desired aesthetics for your new smile.
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Advanced Laboratory Fabrication: These models are sent to our in-house dental laboratory. Our skilled technicians then carefully remove the teeth on the model and sculpt the jawbone to simulate what it will look like after surgery. They use this modified model to fabricate your new healing denture, setting the prosthetic teeth in a way that will look natural and function correctly.
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Ready on Surgery Day: The completed healing denture is sterilized and ready at our clinic on the day of your procedure. Immediately after our oral surgeon has completed the extractions, the denture is inserted. We make any necessary initial adjustments for comfort before you head home with your new smile.
The Next Step: From Healing Denture to Your Final Prosthesis
After the 4-6 month healing period, your gums and jawbone will be stable, and you will be ready for your final, permanent restoration. At this point, you have several excellent options at İnci Diş:
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Option 1: A New Conventional Denture: We will take a new, highly precise impression of your fully healed gums to create a brand-new conventional full denture. This final denture will have the best possible fit, comfort, and stability that a removable appliance can offer.
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Option 2: Reline Your Healing Denture: In some cases, if the aesthetics and bite of the healing denture are excellent, it can be converted into a permanent denture through a laboratory reline. This involves replacing the temporary lining with a durable, hard acrylic base for a long-term fit.
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Option 3: The Permanent Implant Solution: If your treatment plan includes dental implants (such as for an implant-supported overdenture or a fixed hybrid denture), the healing denture will have served its purpose perfectly during the implant integration phase. We will then proceed with creating your final, incredibly stable, implant-retained smile.