Category Archives: Dentures

Gerber dentures are big news for denture wearers. Principal dentist, Richard Mitchell explains what makes them different, and why Wickersley Dental Practice near Rotherham is the place to go to have your Gerber dentures specially made.

Q. How did you become a dentist and what experience have you had?

A. I first qualified in 1993 working as an associate in a group practice for five years before taking the plunge and purchasing my own practice in 1998. Since then, we at Wickersley Dental Practice have constantly been striving to improve and produce the highest quality of dentistry and patient care available.

We think we have achieved that, our patients tell us we have, but we do not rest on our laurels and constantly look at new techniques available to provide our patients with the very best.

Q. Dentures are one of the many treatments you offer at Wickersley Dental Practice. What are some of the reasons people need dentures?

A. Dentures are required to replace missing teeth. There are two kinds, full dentures (when a patient has no teeth) and part dentures (when a patient has some of their own teeth). Dentures help people with missing teeth in the following ways:

• Help to increase chewing function
• Provide support for lips and cheeks to reduce the ‘aged’ appearance that tooth loss can cause
• Improve cosmetic appearance and patient confidence

Q. Have you noticed any common problems with dentures?

A. The problem with dentures is retaining them in place adequately and getting them comfortable in function.

Q. Wickersley is one of the few dental practices in the country that makes Gerber dentures. Why is this type of denture special, and what convinced you to offer them to your patients?

A. Gerber is a specialised denture technique that allows us to construct dentures allowing for each patient’s individual jaw movements. We do this by tracing a patient’s jaw joint combined with a special jaw relation recording called a ‘gothic arch’. These measurements put the teeth in the optimum position for maximum retention and stability of the denture in the mouth compared to standard dentures.

What training did you need to be able to make these highly specialised dentures?

I first started to produce these dentures after studying the techniques of Albert Gerber (inventor of the technique) in Switzerland, and doing the appropriate post graduate causes back in the mid 90’s.

Do Gerber dentures cost more than standard dentures?

Gerber dentures do cost more than other dentures owing to the work involved. Full dentures start at around £1800.

What patients tell me is that after suffering a lifetime of poor fitting dentures that are painful and move around, changing to Gerber dentures is worth every penny. Spread over the lifetime of the dentures (on average around 10 years) the cost is only £180 a year, a small price to pay for the comfort and ease of use these dentures give.

If you’d like to know more about Swiss Gerber dentures, please call our friendly dental practice on 01709 543033.

Posted by Wickersley Dental Practice on 16th December 2014, under Dentures,Improve your smile