Denture Adjustments: Your Mouth Changes Shape as You Age

You will need one or more denture adjustments as your jawbone and gums change. This is why dentists and prosthodontists recommend regular checkups — to track the gradual changes in your mouth.

The type of adjustment that your dentures need will depend on their structural soundness. It will also depend on the difference between the shape of the dentures and the current shape of your mouth. Dentures that have a great deal of wear or tear will need more intensive repair than newer prosthetics. In the same vein, dentures that only have a slight mismatch with your mouth only require minor changes.

To explain why you need periodic adjustments to your dentures, we go over what happens when you lose most or all of your teeth. You will also learn about how dentists deal with mouth changes.

How dentists use denture adjustments to improve their fit and function

Loose dentures can happen due to wear, breakage, or changes in the wearer’s mouth. If poor fit comes down to minor damage or a slight mismatch, a dentist will recommend relining. This is simply the addition of an extra layer of acrylic to the inner surface of the dentures. Dentists create this extra layer with a mold of their patient’s gums. The result is a set of dentures that fit the wearer’s dental arch like a glove.

If there is a significant difference between the shape of the patient’s mouth and their dentures, the dentist will recommend rebasing. This is the total replacement of the "gums," or base, that anchors the false teeth. This is an intensive adjustment that most dentists will need to request from a dental lab. However, dentists or prosthodontists with the know-how can perform the adjustment while the patient waits. Learning about the changes to your gums and jawbone will give you an idea of how often your dentures need work.

The changes that happen to the mouth with age and tooth loss

Age comes with a loss of bone mass and bone density, a fact that holds true whether a person loses their teeth or not. This means a jawbone that is missing most or all of its teeth has to contend with two sources of bone loss. The first is the natural process of aging, while the second plays out in the following way:

• Teeth come loose and fall out, along with their roots.
• The tooth sockets in the jaw remain empty.
• With no tooth roots to flex against the jawbone during chewing, the jawbone stops regenerating.
• The bone continues to lose minerals by resorption, a natural process where minerals from the jawbone enter the bloodstream.
• Since the jaw loses minerals without replacing them, the bone loses mass and density.
• This results in a loss of definition around the mouth and lower face.

This also means that even dentures that are in perfect condition will start to slip as the structures of the mouth change. The types of denture adjustments that the dentist will recommend will depend on how quickly the lower face loses bone mass between visits.