Question:

My 91 year old mother has had gum shrinkage. She does not want implants, but her dentures are so loose that they interfer with chewing as well as appearance. Is there anything that can be done?

Answer:

Generally for loose dentures they can be “relined”. This procedure can utilize either a soft reline material that feels like silicone rubber, or a hard acrylic reline material that is very similar to the existing denture base.

Both procedures are done in the dentist’s office and depending on the type of material and type of procedure the dentist performs can be done the same day or may require being processed by an outside dental lab and take a day or two to complete. Denture pastes may be an emergency fix but are messy and depending on how loose the dentures are may not work at all. Questions your dentist will probably ask in order to assist your mother with her problem are:

• How long has it been since your mother had new dentures?
• Has she lost a significant amount of weight recently?
• Were these dentures inserted immediately after extractions (an immediate denture)?

Hope this helps.

For more information:

Go to the Dental and Oral Health Center health topic.