When the decision has been made that the remaining teeth are non-salvageable and indicated for extraction in preparation for the transition to a full denture, there are two basic alternatives. The first alternative would be to extract the remaining teeth, and wait several weeks or months for the areas to heal before making the denture. Most people usually don’t choose this option because it means that they will have to function without any teeth during this time. As you would expect, most patients would find this objectionable, and therefore in most cases, this is not the chosen alternative. The other alternative, which is the far more popular choice is that of an immediate denture.
An immediate denture is one that is placed immediately after having the remaining upper or lower teeth (or in some case both) removed. With this technique, the patient is able to have the esthetic benefit of having a denture placed at the time of extraction of the teeth, so that he or she can wear this prosthesis during the time that the extraction sites are healing. This way the patient will not have to go without teeth for any period of time.
Your dentist will take an impression of your upper and lower jaws, before any of the teeth are removed. A plaster mold is made from this impression, and this model is sent to the lab. The lab tries to simulate the surgery by grinding the teeth off the mold. The denture is then made on this modified mold. The lab does the best they can in trying to predict what the shape of the gums and bone will be like after the teeth have been removed, but despite their best efforts, it will most likely not match perfectly, and a Relining may be required when the denture is placed at the time of surgery.