Bakersfield Dentures
If you are missing all your teeth and need dentures, you might wonder how they will affect your quality of life. Will they enhance or detract from your smile? Make it easier—or more difficult—to speak, socialize, or enjoy a good meal? In Bakersfield, Woolf Dental offers highly functional dentures made with quality materials to give you a smile that looks and feels natural.
Personalized Dentures
At Woolf Dental, one of our goals is to help people feel confident about their smile. Even with dentures, we will create a personalized, expressive smile that complements your face.
Our process
- Preliminary impressions – Many dentists try to get by with just taking a single impression. While this will work, we add a step and use this impression as only a preliminary impression. From that impression, we make an initial model of your arch. On that model, we make a custom tray to use for a second impression.
- Custom tray – The custom tray already has a close approximation of the shape of your jaw. We use this to take a final impression to get the most accurate reading of your jaw and the gums.
- Two-step final impression – We take the impression process even one more step to get the most accurate fit and use a two-step final impression. We use a heavier-bodied material to record the periphery of how far the denture will extend. It gently pushes on the peripheral tissues to let us know how far we can extend the borders of the denture for maximum stability. Then we follow that with a light-bodied material that records the finer details of your soft tissue for the most accurate fit.
- Facebow and articulator – We use a facebow, which is a device that measures the distance of your jaw joint to your jaw and then use that measurement to mount your models on an articulator, a mechanical device that reproduces the movements of your jaw. Many dentists also skip this step, but it enables us to construct a denture with maximum chewing comfort and efficiency for you.
- Wax model – After setting your denture teeth in gum-colored wax, we will put the model in your mouth for you to test out. The model is a preview of how your denture teeth and smile will look and how the teeth fit together when you close your mouth or bite. We will make the adjustments you want. And when you are confident that your new smile is comfortable and natural looking, we will make the final denture.
- Dentures – We use premium, natural-looking denture teeth to give you a smile that looks natural.
Types of Dentures
We offer complete removable dentures and implant overdentures.
Complete removable denture
A complete removable denture is an arch of teeth to replace all your upper or lower teeth. Suction holds the upper denture in place, and the lower denture rests on your gums. You will remove the denture to clean it and your mouth.
Implant overdenture
An implant overdenture is a full arch of teeth supported by at least two dental implants, or artificial tooth roots. Our oral surgeon will make small incisions through your gums to gently place the implant in your jawbone. After the implants and bone fuse, we will attach your denture to the implants. Meanwhile, you will wear a temporary denture.
An implant overdenture has several advantages over a complete removable denture:
- Stability – Your denture will not slip around or fall out.
- Function – You can speak clearly and enjoy your food without the denture interfering.
- Comfort – Your denture will not sit on your gums and rub or irritate them.
- Jawbone preservation – Dental implants are artificial tooth roots that stimulate the jawbone, keep it intact, and help prevent premature facial sagging.
Our board-certified oral surgeon provides high-quality implants. Visit our implant overdentures page for details about the process.
Dr. Woolf is accredited with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) and an AACD accreditation examiner. He leads our team and ensures that you will love your smile. If you are interested in high-quality dentures or implant overdentures, schedule an appointment with us. Call us or complete our Request an Appointment form.