Immediate Dentures: Leaving Your Extraction Visit With a Full Smile

An immediate denture is fitted and placed on the very same day your remaining teeth are extracted, meaning you leave that appointment with a full, functional set of replacement teeth rather than an empty socket area healing without any covering.

Your dentist takes measurements and impressions of your mouth before the extraction appointment, while your natural teeth are still present, using this information along with an estimate of how your gums will look immediately after extraction to fabricate the denture in advance, ready to be placed right after your teeth are removed.

Since the denture is made based on an estimate of your post-extraction gum shape rather than the actual final healed shape, your gums and jawbone continue changing as they heal in the weeks and months following extraction. This means an immediate denture typically needs more frequent adjustments during this period compared to a standard denture made after healing is already complete.

Often, yes. Once your gums and jawbone have fully healed and stabilized, generally taking several months to a year, many people need either a significant reline of their immediate denture or a completely new, standard denture made to fit the now-stable, healed shape of their mouth.

The clear advantage is never having to go without visible teeth during the healing process, which matters enormously to a lot of people both for appearance and for the ability to eat and speak reasonably normally right from the start, rather than waiting weeks for a standard denture process to be completed after healing.

The fit will change more than a standard denture as healing progresses, requiring more follow-up visits for adjustments, and the likely need for a reline or new denture down the road adds an additional cost and appointment beyond the initial immediate denture itself.

Your remaining teeth are extracted, and the prepared immediate denture is placed right afterward, allowing you to see a complete smile and begin adjusting to wearing a denture from day one, even while the underlying gum and bone tissue is still in its earliest healing stages.

Your dentist will give you specific instructions, often including keeping the denture in place for the first day or so to help control swelling and bleeding, then following a cleaning routine similar to any denture once you begin removing it regularly, along with attending follow-up appointments for adjustments as your gums heal and change shape.

Immediate dentures typically cost a similar amount to standard dentures for the initial appliance itself, though it's worth planning for the likely additional cost of a reline or replacement denture once healing is complete, which is a genuine part of the overall immediate denture process for most patients.

Anyone facing extraction of most or all remaining teeth in an arch who wants to avoid being without visible teeth during healing is a reasonable candidate, assuming their dentist confirms this approach fits their specific situation during planning.