Did you know that dentures can be made differently? Today we’ll discuss the denture making methods covered in this video and blog on denture strength (including the standard method).
Looking at different ways to make dentures
The standard denture making method
A two part plaster mould is made for this one. An acrylic putty is squashed between the two halves and then cooked at about 80ºc – 90ºc.
The standard method has been used for years. It requires no complicated and expensive equipment, as a matter of fact, if my laboratory were to burn down, I could start making dentures in my kitchen with an investment of less than one hundred pounds using this method.
The down side to this method is its reproductive quality, while the two haves are clamped together, errors can occur and slight distortions. The finished denture can come out of the flask bigger, which alters the bite.
The injected method
A two part plaster mould is made for the denture. The two halves are then clamped together before the acrylic putty is injected into the mould and cooked at about 80ºc – 90ºc.
This is what we use on almost all of our new dentures. The results are amazing, as you’ll see in the denture strength video!
The downsides are:
- Its not quick
- The equipment is extremely expensive compared to any other method.
The major benefits are:
- Strength
- Accuracy
The pourable method
A single duplicating gel mould is made for the denture (different compared to the other denture making methods). Liquid acrylic is poured into the mould and then cooked at about 50ºc.
Although the new products and techniques claim to provide strong dentures, the long term evidence for this has yet to be seen. But, my gut tells me that you could potentially have fracture issues from this type of denture (only if reckless).
The up side? well, to produce a denture in this way is very straight forward;
- heat the gel and pour over the denture to create the mould.
- Take out the wax denture and fill the mould with liquid acrylic. It may sounds easy but it can be a little bit fiddly, but a skilled technician shouldn’t take too long to master the technique and the whole process is very quick.
The downsides are:
- They’re not as strong.
The major benefits are:
- The pourable denture is its cost to produce.
- The gel is reversible so can be used many times (plaster has a one time use only).
- There is no boiling the wax pattern out of the mould. It is just taken out cleanly, and the cooking temperature is low too which also reduces cost.
Pourable vs injected method
So why haven’t we adopted the new pourable technique when there are so many benefits? Well, lets look at who benefits from the benefits:
With injected dentures, all the benefits are for the end user, you the customer – the dentures are more accurate and stronger. So, probably one of the better denture making methods out of the three.
With the pourable, all the benefits are for the technician producing the denture. Admittedly though, a pourable denture will cost much less than an injected denture.
So that’s a clear benefit to the patients, and I think that the future of the pourable denture is going to be with the budget denture (temporary and NHS dentures).
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