The amount of time it takes to have a denture made depends on a few factors, but most importantly it depends on the type of denture you need to have made.
Complete dentures
A complete denture replaces all of your upper or lower teeth.
Most complete denture patients will require appointments to have initial and final impressions taken and your bite calculated. Next, your Denturist will create a wax model of your new denture for you to try on and gauge how your final denture will look. Then your denture will be processed.
The time required for all of these appointments and the lab work between each appointment is approximately 4 weeks.
If you opt for a precision complete denture, 1 extra week would be required for a facebow transfer and pin tracing appointment.
Cast partial dentures
A cast partial denture (CPD) replaces some but not all of your upper or lower teeth.
To construct a CPD, your denturist will take an initial impression of your mouth, and possibly a final impression as well. From these impressions, a model of your mouth will be produced.
The model will be sent to a lab that fabricates a customized cast metal framework to be used in your partial denture. This framework will clasp onto your teeth and retain your CPD in your mouth. Made either of titanium or chromium cobalt, it will also give your CPD additional strength.
Once the framework has been sent back to your Denturist, you will try on that framework to make sure that it fits as expected. Next, a wax model of your denture will be made for you to try on and see how it looks. Then your CPD will be processed.
Due to the time needed to have a CPD framework fabricated, it takes approximately 6 weeks for a CPD to be made, from initial impression to denture delivery.
A precision CPD would require 1 additional week, to allow for a facebow transfer and pin tracing to be completed.
Immediate dentures
An immediate denture (either complete or partial) is one that is constructed for you before you have teeth extracted. It is inserted in your mouth for the first time immediately following the removal of your teeth.
In most immediate denture cases, your Denturist will only need to take one set of impressions. At that appointment, you will also discuss with your Denturist any aesthetic concerns you have, such as matching the shade of any remaining teeth. Your new denture will then be processed and delivered to your dentist or oral surgeon prior to your extractions appointment.
Your Denturist will need a minimum of 2 weeks’ time prior to your extraction appointment to construct your immediate denture.