Quick Tip: How resilient attachment of an overdenture to implants can improve denture stability

Dr. Gary Johnson explains the best way he’s found to improve denture stability.

Attachments (Sterngold ERA and ZEST Locator) and silicone (Tokuyama Sofreliner Tough and Dentatus Tuf-Link II) provide a connection between dental implants and the denture.

Dentatus recommends the silicone reliner technique for its Atlas implants.

Overdenture attachment characteristics include easy placement and patient use, wear resistance, quick repair, and reasonable cost with immediate retention. I have chosen silicone reliner because it has resilience, allows slight movement, different retention grades, progressive loading of implants and can be changed without processing.

At the end of surgery, immediate improvement in retention is accomplished using silicone reliner. Recesses (at least 2 mm in depth) with undercuts are made over the implants on the tissue surface of the denture. The existing denture is relieved (1-2 mm) and undercut over the implants and edentulous ridge to allow space for silicone relining. The tissue surface of the denture is sandblasted and cleaned.

Silicone denture relining material (Tokuyama Sofreliner Tough®) is placed on the tissue surface of the denture and dried.

Silicone denture relining material (Tokuyama Sofreliner Tough®) is placed on the tissue surface of the denture using a self mixing cartridge, gun and mixing tip. The denture is passively seated in the mouth. The patient bites lightly into centric occlusion, swallows, and is gently border molded. The denture remains seated in the mouth in centric occlusion for 5 minutes and is then removed.

Excess silicone is trimmed with a sharp lab scalpel. The white hard Tokuyama shaping point is used at about 15,000 RPM for gross shaping and border removal.

The brown soft Tokuyama finishing point is used to smooth and buff to create a transition from silicone to hard acrylic.

- Dr. Gary Johnson