How are telescopic dentures fitted?

One telescopic crown or an inner cap is cemented permanently onto your tooth, the other outer cap on top looks like your teeth and combines with your denture. If you can imagine two cups representing the two crowns being stuck together, when you pull them apart you feel resistance. This is how the telescopic denture is held in place.

The remaining teeth are prepared with a drill so that a ‘cone’ crown can be fitted over the tooth. This crown is in the shape of a cone with a 5° taper, and not the normal bell-shape of a natural tooth. This cone crown is technically called a primary crown and it is permanently cemented over the prepared tooth.

If a sufficient number of secondary crowns are incorporated into the body of the partial denture there is no need to cover the palate (roof of the mouth).

Telescopic Dentures can be fitted to a few remaining teeth but need the support of a minimum of two teeth per jaw. Ideally, one on each side, usually only between 2-6 teeth are required. The denture may also extend to 6 -8 teeth. It depends on the condition of your teeth. If you lose teeth later or years down the track, teeth can be added to the dentures, so there is no need for new dentures to be remade.

Because the plate itself is made from Chrome Cobalt, which is a high bio-compatible material, it’s accepted by the body and not rejected. This has been used in dentistry and medicine for many decades. In telescopic dentures, it’s been used since 1982 and it’s a good strong material. The actual teeth are made out of composite, so the colour can be made to suit or match any desired colour.

Before & After of upper telescopic denture fitted after two visits.

The cone crown is made from a variety of materials including cast stainless steel and zirconia. A secondary crown made of the same material is designed to frictionally fit intimately over the cone crown and is incorporated into the telescopic denture. In actual fact, the amount of retentive force required to unseat the Telescopic Denture is about 2kg.