DENTURES
Dentures in Oak Ridge
Complete or partial, single-visit or implant-supported. Premier Dental offers both traditional dentures and implant-supported dentures.
Chapter 01
When dentures stop fitting, or teeth are past saving
Dentures rarely fail all at once. You notice the sore spot that keeps coming back, the plate that slips when you laugh, the foods you quietly stopped ordering. Gums and bone change shape over the years, so a set that fit well once can start to rock, click, or rub, and that is your cue to have it looked at.
Sometimes the question runs the other way, and it is the natural teeth that are past saving. Deep decay, advanced gum disease and breaks below the gumline can leave nothing solid to rebuild. Dr. Lee looks at what can be kept before anything is pulled, and talks through every replacement option before you commit to one.
Illustration of a calm dental treatment room with denture models on the counter.
Traditional or implant-supported dentures: choosing your route
Premier Dental offers both single-visit traditional dentures as well as implant-supported dentures, so you are not forced into one route. Complete dentures replace a full arch of teeth. Partial dentures fill the gaps between the teeth you are keeping and are made to sit comfortably beside them.
Implant-supported dentures take a different road. Small implants are placed in the jaw first, then the mouth heals, and the denture locks onto them afterward. That means two procedures with 3 to 6 months of healing between them, and the dentures themselves are fabricated in about two weeks.
A single-visit traditional denture is the shorter road. Neither option is the better one across the board. It comes down to how much bone you have, how you eat and talk, and how soon you want to be done, and the honest answer comes from an exam at the Oak Ridge office, not a phone quote.
Chapter 03
Living with new dentures, day to day
Give a new denture a few weeks before you judge it. Your cheeks and tongue have to learn where it sits, so start with soft foods cut small, chew on both sides, and read aloud at home to get your speech back. Sore spots are common early on, and Dr. Lee would rather fix one than have you put up with it.
Clean them every day. Rinse after meals, brush with a soft denture brush and a non-abrasive cleanser, and hold them over a folded towel so a slip does not crack them. At night, take them out and keep them in water or a denture soak so your gums can rest.
Bring them to your checkups even when they feel fine. Relines, which refresh the fitting surface as your gums change, are a normal part of denture life. If yours have started to loosen, call Premier Dental in Oak Ridge at (865) 483-1323 and we will look at them.
Premier Dental Associates on Bus Terminal Rd in Oak Ridge holds a 5.0 on Google from 523 reviews. Call (865) 483-1323 to ask about dentures.