‘You know your teeth will always look good’: Customized dentures the key to confidence in your smile
Marilyn Davidse, 73, a longtime denture wearer, endured years of discomfort before finding relief in customized dentures.
Five years ago, Davidse bought a set of standard dentures at an Edmonton shopping centre. Within less than a year, two of the false teeth had fallen out—while Davidse was on holiday, no less—and the fit was so uncomfortable she sometimes couldn’t wear the dentures at all.
“They weren’t lined up properly, and that’s why the teeth broke off, because they didn’t fit properly,” she says. To make matters worse, when she went back to the business that sold her the dentures to complain about the broken teeth and poor fit, she was told that these issues were to be expected and that she would be charged for any repairs.
Following a friend’s recommendation, Davidse went to Delton Denture Clinic for a consultation with denturist and owner Gino Borelli in March 2017. “Any questions I had, he was able to answer them—no ifs, buts or maybes,” says Davidse. “He knows his stuff, and his equipment was up to date. He had equipment there I’d never seen before and explained how everything worked.”
Over the course of about five appointments, Borelli created new customized dentures for Davidse in his onsite laboratory. It is meticulous, detail-oriented work, using high quality materials and precision techniques, which he has refined over more than 20 years as a licensed denturist. In addition to taking initial and final impressions of a client’s mouth, Borelli takes extensive measurements of the face and the client’s jaw movements.
“Our motto has always been get as many measurements as you can, get as close as you can,” says Borelli. “We have tools to help us determine the proper lip support, the proper shape and size of your teeth. We don’t just randomly pull open a drawer and pull from 100 teeth moulds we have. We use landmarks on the patient’s face.”
“Denturists are skilled in both the clinical and the laboratory aspect of making dentures,” explains Borelli. “This results in a more customized set of dentures, fewer problems, and ultimately, a happier patient.”
Davidse is thrilled with her new dentures. “I feel now that I can eat an apple without cutting it. I couldn’t with the other ones. As far as my smile is concerned, with my other ones I had a crooked smile—the one side of my mouth was dropped. With these, it’s been fixed. Gino said he lined it up so it’s parallel with my inner ear. And I’ll tell you, what a difference!”
Sharan Huxley, 71, had three good teeth left when she went to Delton Denture Clinic two years ago. Her dentist recommended either dental implants—“which at my age I certainly didn’t want and couldn’t afford,” she says—or dentures. She opted for dentures.
At Delton Denture, Borelli and Huxley discussed her options for natural looking and functional teeth, as well as the physical and mental adjustments required when transitioning to dentures. “He gives you every bit of information he can, but he delivers it so nicely,” says Huxley. “He doesn’t immediately say, ‘We’ll do it.’ He gives you time to sit and think about it, which is very rare.”
Huxley decided to go ahead with the process, which involved having her remaining teeth extracted by a dental surgeon and waiting for her mouth to heal before she got her customized dentures. Soon after getting her new teeth, though, Huxley experienced dramatic weight loss.
As a result of this change in her weight, Huxley’s dentures no longer fit properly. Borelli recommended holding off on making changes to the dentures until her weight had stabilized. After losing 40 pounds in a year, Huxley is glad she listened.
“He made me a new set that are wonderful. They’re beautiful. The first set was beautiful when I started, but he was so right. He could’ve made me a new one after losing 20 pounds, but he insisted on waiting,” she says. “I knew he would fix it, and he did.”
Like Davidse, Huxley has gained newfound confidence because of her custom dentures. “You like smiling, you like having pictures taken because you know your teeth will always look good,” she says. “Borelli’s an artist, but he’s also very professional, which gives you a real sense of security. He cares what you look like. When you walk out, he wants you to be happy.”
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