New Hanover County · Since 1987
Dentures in Porters Neck, NC
A well-made denture restores chewing and the shape of the lower face. A poorly made one is the reason people give up on dentures altogether.
- Three doctors, one location
- Sedation available
- Most major plans accepted
- Written estimates before treatment
What to know about dentures
We make full dentures, partials, and implant-retained overdentures that snap onto two or more implants. That last option is what we recommend most often for a lower arch, because a lower full denture has little ridge to hold on to.
Patients from Porters Neck
More than a third of Porters Neck is 65 or older, and almost nobody moves, vacancy here runs around seven percent.
Most of the restorative work we do for this community is second-generation: replacing crowns and bridges placed twenty or thirty years ago that have finally given out. The question is rarely whether to treat it, it is whether to keep patching or rebuild properly.
A lot of the restorative work we do for Porters Neck involves replacing crowns and bridges placed elsewhere in the 1990s.
Porters Neck Plantation and Porters Neck Village together hold much of the community's older population, and both are a straight run down Market Street.
Vacancy here is around seven percent, so patients tend to stay with a practice for decades rather than years.
We see patients from across Porters Neck and the surrounding area, including Porters Neck Plantation, Porters Neck Village, Poplar Grove and the 28411 ZIP code.
New Hanover County is the built-out core of the region, growing around one percent a year, with roughly 21 percent of residents over 65 and the highest concentration of employer dental coverage in southeastern North Carolina.
We will tell you honestly whether this is worth doing now or whether it can be watched for a year, and we will say which of your existing work is likely to fail next.
This is the kind of restorative work we do most: patients who kept their teeth a long time and now want a plan that holds for the next twenty years.
You may be a candidate if
- You are missing all the teeth in an arch
- You are missing several teeth and want one appliance to replace them
- Your current denture is loose, sore, or needs adhesive daily
- Implants are outside what you want to take on right now
- You want the option to add implant retention later
Your treatment, start to finish
- Assessment and recordsWe examine the ridges and tissue, then take impressions.
- Try-inYou see the teeth set in wax and approve shape, shade and midline before anything is processed.
- DeliveryThe finished denture is fitted and adjusted.
- AdjustmentsTwo or three short visits over the following weeks. This part is expected and included.
Afterwards
Take them out at night. Clean them over a folded towel or a basin of water so a drop does not become a remake. Come back when they start to feel loose rather than waiting until a sore spot has become an ulcer.
If getting to follow-up visits is difficult, tell us. We can often combine checks into fewer, longer appointments.
What it costs
Dentures span a wide range depending on whether they are immediate, conventional or implant-retained. Many plans include a denture benefit on a multi-year cycle. We check that cycle before quoting, and we lay out what adding implant retention later would cost so you can decide with the full picture.
If you are on Medicare, note that it does not cover routine dental treatment. Many supplement plans include a limited dental benefit with an annual cap, and we will check yours before quoting anything.
In their own words
Hear from Dr. Barry Frazelle
Dr. Frazelle on why the injection is nothing to dread, and a cheap whitening habit he gives patients.
Questions we get asked
How often do dentures need replacing?
Relines every few years, full replacement somewhere around the seven to ten year mark, sooner if the ridge has changed a lot.
Do I have to use adhesive?
A well-fitting upper usually does not need it. Lowers often do, unless they are implant-retained.
How far is your office from Porters Neck?
About 13 miles, or roughly 22 minutes via Market Street (US-17) or I-140 to MLK Jr. Parkway. We are at 1301 Physicians Dr in Wilmington, with parking at the door.
Do you see patients from Porters Neck?
Regularly. Porters Neck is part of our core service area in New Hanover County, and this is the kind of restorative work we do most: patients who kept their teeth a long time and now want a plan that holds for the next twenty years.
What are your hours?
Monday through Thursday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, and Friday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. Outside those hours, leave a message or use the appointment request form and we will come back to you with the first available time.
Dentures · Porters Neck, NC
You have probably been told several different things about this.
Bring the opinions you have already been given. We will look at your scan with you and say which parts we agree with.
- Three doctors, 50+ years of combined experience
- Implant surgery and restoration in one building
- Sedation available for longer appointments
- Written, phased treatment plans with costs attached
Worried it is too much work at your age? Health matters far more than the number, and we will tell you if we think a smaller plan serves you better.
Request an appointment
We reply the next business day.
Please do not include Protected Health Information. For anything urgent, call (910) 762-0958.
