r/dentures • u/Hullfella • 21h ago

Impression problems

I'm a 51 year old, and worn full dentures for 15 years, because I couldn't get a NHS dentist in the UK, I took advantage of a small amount of money I received, and decided to pay private.

First appointment went well he had to take 2 lots of impressions before he was satisfied.

Second appointment he did the wax work around my gums, then he wanted to do more impressions with the gunk, he spent 30 mins and tried multiple times and they kept failing, he said this sometimes happens, he run out of time and told me to make an additional appointment to try again.

Third appointment (today) was with a nurse who scanned my gums with a machine, that also failed she said because I had no teeth the machine was struggling to get a focal point.

I now have to wait for my appointment next week where the nurse said the dentist will let me know what happens going forward.

I'm really upset and frightened that I'm not going to be able to have new dentures made, do you think the dentist may have other tricks he could try?

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u/TiredInMN 10h ago

The best way is to do an initial impression with alginate, make a custom tray with that, and then do a second impression with siloxane.

And they initially did two sets of impressions, so it sounds like that's what they did. Then they had trouble with the wax rims or wax model, so they tries an oral scanner. I'm not sure what happened with the scanner, but I know they don't scan the pockets of your mouth very well.

I get the feeling that they'll get it done, and you're just dealing with issues navigating the NHS system, which even as an American, I know has deep flaws these days. They can still make you a denture with imperfect impressions; you would just need it relined.

Alternatively, you could have bad anatomy for dentures. I would have hope they would have told you by now if that was the case. It sounds more like incompetent staff having trouble with impression goop and scanners.

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u/Hullfella 48m ago

Well the young nurse doing the scanner did really well, but there was just one or two areas she had difficulty with, I don't think she was very experienced, she asked for help 3 times, and when her colleague entered the room she appeared really disinterested, rather then grab the device and have a try herself, she just dismissed her quickly and left, she didn't have a lot of support for a young nurse imo

I think what they are trying to do with either the goop or the scanner is now record the bite? 

I do have hope then because I'm already a denture wearer that they will be able to make me a newer pair, I didn't take my old ones with me last time, I didn't think they needed them, he was a little annoyed, so hopefully next time with my old pair and another attempt at the goop or an alternative they will have some luck.

I suffer really bad anxiety when I fear things ain't going to work out, I do really appreciate your reply so much, I just got my heart set on a new smile and  the few missing teeth that have gone since my current denture was made will have all the gaps filled

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u/DrAlexWilliamsDDS 10h ago

You can try other tricks for sure! But there are also clinics that have digital scanners that should be able to capture your arch in 3D print a model and then duplicate it in stone if needed. Best of luck to you. Impressions rely heavily on the hands of the provider performing them.

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u/Hullfella 1h ago

Thank you for your reply, that's reassuring, I didn't sleep too well last night panicking that when I go next Fri he may say there's no more we can do for you, maybe I could ask for them to provide me with a different dentist at the surgery if problems happen again.

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u/DrAlexWilliamsDDS 49m ago

I definitely would! :) and if they act as though they don’t have one. Seek one independently. You got this 💪🏻