We have set the photos up as a slide show, if you press on the photo, you can proceed slide by slide and read the captions to get an idea what we did for the day.
In today’s visit, the first thing we do is check to see how Mike is doing. The extraction sites are healing nicely. I’m happy for Mike: he will never have another tooth ache, ever again.
Remold, Reshape, Recontour
The lab has sent us upper and lower wax rims for today’s visit. The wax rims are a starting point: we take the wax rims and remold, reshape, recontour them to the shape we think would be ideal for Mike’s mouth.
Also in this visit, we select the teeth that will be used on Mike’s dentures. I love looking at teeth! Whenever I meet anybody who works with denture teeth, I am always asking, what are the prettiest teeth out there? In my opinion, the best-looking teeth in 2013 are Portrait IPN by Dentsply. While taking a denture course, I was fortunate enough to go on tour at the Dentsply factory in York, Pennsylvania, where the Portrait IPN teeth are made. The teeth are made of layers, with depth and “personality” — because of this; they are just beautiful! At today’s visit, we also pick the shape of the tooth and the color. Mike likes the idea of having a lighter color. He picks a Portrait P1 for his color.
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- Since the second visit, the lab poured up our master models and fabricated wax rims for today, the third visit.
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- Anastasia has everything ready for today’s visit: flame for melting the wax; tools for sculpting and contouring the wax; and Blu-Mousse Bite Registration by Parkell.
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- The wax rim that the lab sent is a starting point; it is our job to take that wax rim and sculpt a denture in wax. I need to add more, to make a fuller smile.
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- Working with the wax involves melting the new wax onto the wax rim.
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- We spend time trimming away the excess wax, sculpting and contouring.
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- The denture needs to be longer, so more sculpting and contouring.
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- We take this wax rim in and out, visually checking to see it is what we are looking for, sculpting and contouring.
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- Even more melting the wax, trimming, sculpting and contouring.
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- Let’s check how this looks!
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- Team Seasons of Smiles Dental, hard at work.
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- We made the upper wax rim first, working it against his lower older, existing denture.
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- Almost there! We use a stick as a tool to measure how close Mike’s upper jaw is to his lower jaw.
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- Using the big mirror helps us get an idea what the denture is going to look like.
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- Anastasia Snow of Seasons of Smiles Dental.
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- Nellie Clark of Seasons of Smiles Dental.
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- Working with the big mirror, almost there.
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- Now we make the lower denture so it works against the upper denture.
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- Almost done!
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- The upper wax rim and lower wax rim both look good; now it is time to record their relationship.
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- We must record the midline. This is where the lab will place the two front teeth.
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- We check the midline from different angles to make sure it’s in the middle.
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- Now we tie the upper wax rim to the lower wax rim using Blu-Mousse – Bite Registration by Parkell.
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- We ask Mike to bite down softly and wait for the Blu-Mousse to cure.
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- We record where we think the canines should go.
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- I love looking at teeth! Whenever I meet anybody who works with denture teeth, I am always asking, what are the prettiest teeth out there? In my opinion, the best-looking teeth in 2013 are Portrait IPN by Dentsply. Now all we have to do is pick a mold.
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- For a multitude of reasons, we picked 42F. I think it’s a “manly tooth” that should work out nicely.
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- The next big decision we need to make is on color. We are going with A1; it’s a color you might see on an 18-year-old young man. I showed Mike some whiter shades, but he liked the idea of A1 better.
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- We are done for the day! We will be sending this off to Eliason Dental Lab. Thank you, Julie Skelton, for all your help; Eliason Dental Lab has offered to do this work for us at no charge. They can be reached at Eliason Dental Lab, 190 Riverside St., Unit 6B. Portland, ME 04103 (207) 774-7881 http://www.eliasonlab.com Eliason Dental Lab has offered to do this work for us at no charge. They can be reached at Eliason Dental Lab 190 Riverside St., Unit 6B Portland ME 04103 (207) 774-7881 http://www.eliasonlab.com
We are done for the day! We will be sending this off to Eliason Dental Lab. Thank you, Julie Skelton, for all your help; Eliason Dental Lab has offered to do this work for us at no charge. They can be reached at
Eliason Dental Lab
190 Riverside St., Unit 6B
Portland ME 04103
(207) 774-7881
http://www.eliasonlab.com
Norman Medina DDS, graduated from Loma Linda University Dental School in 1994. He has been practicing dentistry in Midcoast Maine since 1994. He and his wife Lanita have four children.
