Gold Coast Denture Repairs
Despite being made of durable materials that can withstand considerable wear and tear, no matter how well you take care of your teeth, even the highest quality dentures are prone to breakage. The good news is, when they become fractured, there’s a good chance that they can be salvaged, making the purchase of a whole new set of dentures, unnecessary. At Dentures at Varsity, we provide first class denture repairs at our Gold Coast clinic, with our emergency reline and repair service ensuring your dentures are fully reconstructed and ready to be used within hours, not days.
Whilst contemporary dentures are indeed marvels of modern technology, all appliances have a lifespan. One of the most common causes of denture malfunction is due to the use of old and worn out dentures that have become brittle, unsafe, and much more susceptible to breakage. As a rule, dentures should be relined every 4 years and replaced entirely after 8 years – sometimes earlier, if you have a habit of grinding your teeth (Bruxism).
Whether your dentures have become worn down over time, as a result of natural degradation or if they’ve become chipped and cracked due to an accident, damaged while cleaning them or merely by crunching on hard foods, such as lollies, our Dental Prosthetists examine the extent of damage, advise you on the best possible repair solution and suggest ways to minimise or prevent such damage from happening again. Our denture repairs are impeccably finished and provide a perfect fit, ensuring complete comfort for the wearer.
Emergency Denture Repairs
Same Day Relines and Repairs
Ready Within Hours
Please note: under no circumstances should you ever attempt to repair your dentures by using ordinary household adhesives, such as superglue. Doing so is extremely dangerous to your health and can cause irreparable damage to the denture, rendering them unusable. Dentures are designed according to the exact specifications of your gums, to help guarantee that they fit and function as intended. Making improvised changes will compromise their usefulness.
Once your dentures have become fractured, worn down, split, or you’ve found that they no longer fit your gums correctly, do not attempt to fix them yourself. Dentures must only be repaired by a certified dental technician. Improperly repaired and poorly aligned dentures can result in a number of complications for the wearer, including pain and poor aesthetics.
How Long Will It Take to Get My Dentures Repaired?
At Dentures at Varsity, we know how important it is that your dentures are repaired as quickly as possible. Below is a list of approximate completion times for emergency denture repairs at our Gold Coast clinic.
All repairs for minor denture fractures or adjustments are completed in 30 mins or less. This quick repair time ensures that you can have them fixed during your lunch break or while you run errands. Bookings are not required. Simply bring them in to us and we’ll repair them for you immediately.
Standard denture repairs include those for broken or chipped dentures, dislocated teeth or shattered pieces of your dentures that can be quickly reattached. All of these procedures are completed within an hour or less and don’t require a booking. Please remember to bring all parts of your dentures when you call in.
Unlike standard repairs, complex denture repairs typically concern dentures that are unable to be easily mended. The repair process is more time-consuming due to more extensive damage. Such repairs involve a dental impression. Following this, you’ll be advised on how your dentures can be corrected. This may involve the reinforcement of the mesh in areas that have suffered degradation and become frayed or by adding extensions to provide a more precise fit. Such procedures will improve the longevity of your dentures.
If your dentures have undergone numerous repairs already, it may be in your best interests to have them replaced, rather than repaired again. If this is the case, please consult with our expert staff who will advise you on the best course of action.
If you wish to wait for your dentures to be repaired, you can do so in the calm and relaxing confines of our climate-controlled waiting room. Likewise, there’s plenty for you to see and do in the immediate vicinity at Varsity Lakes.
Knowing how to best take care of your dentures goes a long way to ensuring that they remain in optimal condition. Many dentures become chipped or cracked when they are accidentally dropped into the sink while wearers are cleaning them. Using approved cleaning products and having your dentures serviced by dental professionals helps provide best results.
If your dentures have become tarnished over time, due to food, beverages or cigarette inhalation, we can have them professionally cleaned for you and have them returned to their former pristine condition, once more.
Need your dentures on the spot/same day by an expert? Bring your dentures in and we can fix them while you wait! Call us on (07) 55930749.
Emergency denture repairs are our specialty, working with our onsite lab, we can have your smile back to you either on the spot or same day depending on the damage.
Our onsite dental prosthetist and technician will be able to tell you all you need to know in regards to quote and time for the repair.
We understand it can be frustrating when a denture can break on the weekend, the day before work or before an important event. Our team have your back, so there is no need to worry with our quick turn around time.
Damage to dentures
Dentures are built extremely tough, however wear and tear just like anything else in life can take it’s tole on the structure of the product. This is why it may feel like and “All of a sudden” type of event.
We can turn your emergency denture repair into a quick and easy painless process.
We offer a comprehensive range of services that cover all types of dentures, including full, partial or implant-supported dentures. Using specialised tools, quality materials and proven methods, our denture repair services meet the highest standards of hygiene, safety and efficacy. Our team can help you get your denture like new again in a short time.
Why it’s important to not delay your denture repair
Even if it’s just a loosened part or hairline crack in your denture, do not brush it aside as a small issue. Many denture wearers ignore or delay smaller repair works only to find the damage become more difficult – and expensive – to fix later on. We recommend getting in with our dental prosthetist for a check-up every couple of years to ensure your denture is fighting fit for your smile.
Even though it may be a “life or death” emergency we do not recommend a DIY approach in repairing your denture. Leave it to the dental professionals! We will ensure the job get’s done safely and correctly. Doing it yourself most likely result in making the denture worse.
Our denture clinic is conveniently located on the Gold Coast in Varsity Lakes. A privately placed boutique practice to helping you with all your denture needs.
How do dentures become broken?
There is a multitude of ways in which dentures can be broken, ranging from the simple to the bizarre .
Generally, dentures become fractured in one of two ways:
Impact – where one hard blow results in instant breakage.
Fatigue – when the denture base is subjected to repeated stresses.
Impact Fracture
An impact fracture is usually caused by patient carelessness or by accident.
Carelessness
The most frequent cause is the denture being dropped in the sink when being cleaned. Patients are advised to clean the denture always while holding it over a bowl of water or a towel.
These two pictures show dentures that have been chewed by dogs.
This is a more frequent occurrence than would be expected; dogs seem to be fascinated by acrylic resin dentures. Patients who leave their dentures lying around so that dogs have access to them, can be classified as careless or very irresponsible.
Mick Champkins, a carpenter from St Leonards, relates: “My friend has two Alsatians and I heard them moving about in the night – but I didn’t expect them to take a liking to my teeth”.
One of the dogs did, however, chomp the Champkins dentures into tiny pieces. All things considered, the wedding the next day went well, though Mr Champkins has his reservations.
Accident
There is the story of the cyclist who, whilst riding down Park Street, coughed out his upper denture and ran over it with his back wheel. Also the lady at the bus-stop who sneezed her upper denture under the front wheel of the arriving double-decker bus. Most of what remained of the denture was carried off embedded in the heavy tread of the tyre.
Fatigue
The continual application of forces which are themselves too small to cause fracture directly, when applied over a long period, can cause the acrylic resin to fatigue. This is the most common cause of a midline fracture of a complete upper denture. It grows slowly at first, then the rate of growth increases greatly just before the fracture occurs.
Fatigue Fractures
May be associated with:
- The design of the denture
- Oral anatomy of the patient
- Its use or abuse by the patient
- Factors introduced in the laboratory
- Previous repairs
Stress concentrators due to design
A “U” shaped denture designed for patients who are unable to wear a full coverage upper complete denture because it makes them feel sick.
A close up shows an old repair line.
Flexing around the midline may result if the posterior teeth of an upper denture are placed too far buccally in relation to the crest of the ridge.This is particularly true if the teeth are set so far buccally that they are over the sulcus not over the underlying supporting bone, each time they are brought into occlusion flexing of the palate and therefore stress, is developed at the midline.
When the posterior teeth are made of acrylic resin, in time, they may wear to such an extent that they become wedge-shaped, creating a wedge-effect on the dentures.
This wear will develop in a characteristic way, depending on the relationship of one denture to the other.
If the upper arch is wider than the lower, the curve of wear developed causes the lower denture to act as a wedge and exert a splitting force on the upper.
However, if the lower denture is wider than the upper, the reverse occurs and the lower denture is forced apart.
Either of these two factors will be exacerbated by a badly fitting denture or by compressible underlying soft tissue.
When there has been resorption of the alveolar bone under an upper denture, support will be provided by the palatal bones.
When the teeth occlude the denture will flex.
Stress fractures due to patient’s behaviour
Wear and tear
As a result of prolonged use of abrasive cleaners and vigorous brushing over many years acrylic resin will wear very thin and therefore become very prone to fatigue.
This is a very tired looking denture, ravaged by time and abrasive brushing.
This is an extraordinary example of the consequences of long term abrasive cleaning.
A complete lower denture which has been subjected to such vigorous abrasive cleaning over many years that the lingual aspect has been worn away.
It now resembles an acrylic resin lingual bar. To avoid confusion by that illustrative statement, it must emphasised that a lingual bar is only ever made in metal, never in acrylic resin, because it would be too weak and very prone to fracture.
This denture to the right has become bleached and very thin with long-term cleaning and wear.
A light shone through it demonstrates just how thin it has become.
It also reveals wire and gauze used as strengtheners from previous repairs; wire and metal gauze are stress makers, they do not strengthen dentures, in fact their presence weakens the acrylic making it prone to further fracture.
It is important therefore, to remember that wire and wire gauze are not strengtheners but weakeners.
The way that a denture is held during cleaning is very important.
If it is held between finger and thumb like this each time it is cleaned, then over a period of time stress will develop at the midline.
This is particularly true of a lower partial denture with bilateral free ended saddles.
This composite photograph demonstrates how NOT to clean dentures.
Advice on cleaning dentures is often sought by patients so it is worth memorizing.
- Do not clean dentures over an empty sink.
- Do not hold the denture by squeezing between a finger and thumb.
- Do not use a hard nylon nailbrush only a small-headed soft toothbrush.
- Do not use coarse abrasive domestic cleaners like GLITTO or the modern equivalent abrasive creams.
- Do not use concentrated domestic hypochlorites like PARAZONE or DOMESTOS. They are highly concentrated bleaching agents.
Factors introduced in the laboratory
The wax base of the trial denture too thin.
During the packing of the acrylic into the processing flask:
- Introduction of voids into the material by careless packing.
- Contamination by dust or plaster fragments.
- To give character to the pink acrylic gumwork, coloured nylon fibres are included in the polymer. If the container housing the polymer is not well shaken before pouring, the fibres can become concentrated in small areas and become stress concentrators.
- Porosity due to the production of bubbles of gas when the correct processing procedures are ignored. The presence of nylon fibres and porosity can be shown when a very thin layer of self-curing acrylic resin is polymerised at water-bath temperature and atmospheric pressure, then photographed close-up, with a light shining through it.
- Incomplete Polymerisation occurs when the correct curing-cycle is ignored and can result in the strength of the denture base being reduced. Over zealous polishing of the finished denture by the technician can result in a thin denture base.
It was mentioned earlier that the insertion of metal gauze does not strengthen but weakens acrylic resin dentures.
Some laboratories routinely insert these so-called strengtheners when repairing broken dentures.
Here is a further example of a repaired denture which was strengthened by using wire gauze. It has fractured again.
