Replacing a whole arch, honestly explained

An upper denture seals against the palate, and suction does most of the work. Fitted well, it stays put and most people adapt within weeks.

A lower denture has no palate to seal against. It sits on a horseshoe ridge with a tongue underneath and cheek muscles either side, all moving constantly. That is anatomy, not a fitting failure, and it is why so many people with a perfectly well-made lower denture still struggle to eat with it.

We say this before you commit rather than afterwards. If a lower full denture is what you are facing, we would want you to understand the implant-retained option first.

Several appointments, deliberately. Impressions, then a bite registration to establish how your jaws meet and how much height your face needs back, then a wax try-in where you see the teeth arranged before anything is finalized.

That try-in is the appointment that matters most and the one people are tempted to rush. You look at the shape, the shade, how much tooth shows when you smile and speak. Everything is still changeable at that point. Afterwards it is not.

Bring a photograph of yourself with your natural teeth if you have one. It is the most useful thing a patient can hand us.

The giveaways are uniformity and whiteness. Real teeth are not identical to each other and they are not the shade of a bathroom tile, particularly not at sixty.

So we build in variation deliberately: slight differences in rotation and length, a shade appropriate to your age, and a gum contour that follows a natural line rather than a straight one.

The other giveaway is a face that has lost height. Teeth support the lower third of the face, and a denture set too short ages someone noticeably. Getting that dimension right is most of what the bite registration appointment is for.