TVOFS - Boise Office
Pre-Prosthetic Surgery Boise & Meridian IDDentures are a traditional solution for replacing missing teeth. It is still an incredibly popular option today. Dentures are a removable restoration that consists of acrylic resin or porcelain teeth set into an acrylic gum colored base. The base rests directly on your gums and is supported by this tissue. Your dentures are made from an impression of your mouth to ensure an optimal fit. Even so, there are some situations in which your dentures may not be able to properly fit in your mouth. At Treasure Valley Oral & Facial Surgery, we can help to ensure that your dentures fit correctly with pre-prosthetic surgery. What is Pre-Prosthetic Surgery?While dentures are created from impressions of your mouth, they may not always fit properly. This can be due to a variety of reasons, such as jagged bone or growths in your soft tissue. These issues can lead to discomfort or cause your dentures to fall out frequently. Pre-prosthetic surgery is a procedure that is performed to essentially prepare your mouth for your dentures. Not everyone who gets dentures needs pre-prosthetic surgery, but for those who do, there are a few different procedures that may be performed. Bone Reshaping and SmoothingSome people receiving dentures need to have unhealthy teeth extracted first. After extracting these teeth, your jawbone may be left jagged or uneven. These issues can prevent your denture from sitting properly on your gums. The denture may put excessive pressure on the areas of rough bone, which can lead to sores on your gums and significant discomfort. An alveoloplasty is a procedure that is performed to smooth and reshape the jawbone to prevent these issues from occurring. Removing Excess BoneThere are some people who have excess bone in their jaw. The amount of bone varies from person to person, and it can affect how well your dentures fit in your mouth. While it may be possible to fabricate a denture around smaller amounts of excess bone, larger amounts can cause your denture to come loose or fall out more frequently. If bone removal is needed, it is done before taking impressions of your denture. There are a few common types of bone growths that may need to be removed. An exostosis is excess bone that is on the outer side of your jaw, facing your lip or cheek. A lingual torus is excess bone that is located on the inside of your lower jaw. Tissue RemovalIf you have been wearing dentures for a while, you may have developed excess folds of tissue on your lip, cheek, or gums. These growths often occur when dentures that do not fit properly. Often called epulis fissuratum or hyperplastic tissue, these areas of excess tissue are completely harmless. However, they can impact the fit of your dentures. Therefore, the excess tissue is removed. This is done several weeks before the placement of a new denture to ensure that you have healed properly. By removing this tissue, we can help improve the fit of your dentures. Pre-prosthetic surgery is not always necessary. When it is, it can help to ensure that your dentures fit properly in your mouth, preventing them from slipping around or falling out. Right after pre-prosthetic surgery, you are provided with specific aftercare instructions that ensure proper healing and preventing issues like infections and other complications. For more information, and to find out if pre-prosthetic surgery is right for you, call Treasure Valley Oral & Facial Surgery today at (208) 343-0909. |
