At this stage of denture making the patient has a much clearer idea of what the final dentures will look and feel like. However, the patient should be made aware that the final denture will feel much tighter and better fitting than the try-in denture will, due to the fact that the teeth are in wax in the try-in denture and will be in acrylic in the final denture.
The try-in dentures have the prescribed teeth in what should be the correct position, in a wax base; the wax represents the acrylic in the final denture, but allows for any changes to be carried out before the final denture is made.
The dentist will fit the wax try-in in the patient’s mouth and will look closely at the size, shade and position of the teeth. The dentist will check that the patient’s bite is even, this is done by asking the patient to bite down onto some articulating paper. This paper is coloured and will mark the teeth on the contact points, allowing the dentist to see if there is excess pressure in any particular area. If the bite is not even the teeth on the denture can be adjusted and the bite can be checked again and again until both the dentist and patient are happy. The patient is likely to give a more accurate indication of whether or not a particular tooth or particular area is high than the use of articulating paper alone.
The dentist will observe the patients profile to ensure that they look comfortable at rest and may use the Willis Bite Gauge (which was used in the bite stage) to ensure the correct face height has been achieved. They will also look to see if the wax representing the acrylic in the final denture is too bulky or too deep in any areas such as underneath the lip at the anterior region of the mouth. They may also ask the patient to smile to ensure that the teeth are aligned correctly in relation to the patients lip line and to check that the midline is also correct.
The patient is then given a face mirror and asked to look critically at the try-in dentures and to say if there is anything that they would like changed; they are often reminded at this point that this is the last opportunity to make any changes before the final denture is made.
If the dentist or patient is unhappy with the appearance or any other aspect of the denture simple changes can be carried out in surgery, or if more complex, a second try-in or re-try is requested by the dentist to the dental technician with a written prescription on a laboratory slip, otherwise the dentist will request that the final denture or dentures are made.
If a re-try is required, once the technician has made appropriate adjustments, the try-in stage is repeated until both patient and dentist are happy.
