Do not fix it at home

Bring every fragment, however small, and do not glue anything. Household adhesives are not designed for acrylic, they are not food-safe, and — most importantly — the residue contaminates the fracture surfaces so a laboratory can no longer bond them properly.

A clean break with both pieces intact is often a same-day or next-day repair for a modest fee. The same break after a superglue attempt frequently means a remake at ten times the cost. This is far and away the most common avoidable expense we see with dentures.

A denture that has broken cleanly down the middle usually broke because it no longer fits — the fit has changed, the denture flexes with every bite, and eventually acrylic fatigues. So we look at why, not just at the crack.

Your jawbone changes shape for the rest of your life once teeth are gone. It resorbs — slowly, continuously, and faster in the first year after extractions. A denture made to fit the ridge you had in 2019 is sitting on a different ridge now.

A reline resurfaces the fitting side of the existing denture to match the ridge as it is today. The teeth and the shape you are used to stay exactly the same; only the tissue-facing surface is renewed.

It restores the seal and stops the movement, and it costs a fraction of a new denture. Most people need one every few years and a great many go far too long, putting up with looseness and sore spots because they assume the alternative is a remake.

When the acrylic has been repaired several times already and is structurally compromised. When the teeth have worn flat enough that the bite has collapsed and your face has lost height. When the fit has changed so much that a reline would leave an unmanageable thickness.

We will tell you which of those applies rather than defaulting to the more expensive option. Plenty of dentures that patients arrive expecting to replace need a reline and an afternoon.