Ask what makes a denture "quality," and the conversation usually goes straight to materials – the acrylic grade, the tooth shade, how the base is finished. We cover that ground in our guide to choosing a well-made denture. But the same materials can produce very different results depending on how the denture is actually made. Quality is also a process: a sequence of conversations, checks, and craftsmanship that starts weeks before you ever see a finished denture. Here's what that process looks like at our clinic, from your first appointment to the weeks after you start wearing your new dentures.
It starts with listening
Before any impression is taken, your first visit with one of our denturists is mostly conversation. We ask about your denture history, if you have one – what's worked, what hasn't, and where past dentures have rubbed, loosened, or looked less natural than you'd like. We ask about your goals, whether that's eating certain foods with confidence again, feeling comfortable smiling in photos, or simply not thinking about your teeth through the day. And we talk honestly about the options that actually apply to your mouth, whether that's a complete, partial, or implant-retained denture, along with what CDCP or your insurance plan may help cover. None of this is a formality – the direction that comes out of this conversation is what everything else gets built on.
Impressions done properly
Once there's a plan, the next step is impressions: a mold that captures the shape of your gums, palate, and the ridges that will support the denture. This is where rushing shows up later. A hurried impression can miss the fine contours of your mouth, and a denture built on an inaccurate mold won't sit quite right, no matter how good the materials are. Our denturists take the time an accurate impression needs, and will take a second, more detailed impression when your ridges or palate call for it. The bite height, jaw relationship, and lip position measured at this stage become the information every later decision depends on – it's a quieter step than choosing a tooth shade, but it's the one that decides whether everything after it fits.
Design decisions that fit your face
With accurate impressions in hand, our denturists move into design – choosing the tooth shade, shape, and size that suit your face and any remaining natural teeth, and setting the bite so your upper and lower arches meet the way your jaw actually functions. Lip support matters here too: the denture's base needs to fill out the area under your lips and cheeks enough to look natural at rest, without crowding your mouth or changing the way you speak. These are judgment calls our denturists make for your specific face, not a template applied the same way to everyone – which is part of why two people can ask for "the same" denture and end up with results that look and feel noticeably different.
Crafting in our own Ottawa lab
Once the design is set, our lab technicians take over the physical work: processing the acrylic, setting the teeth, and finishing the base to the denturist's specifications. Because our lab is on-site in Ottawa, this isn't a handoff to a facility we never see again – our denturists and lab technicians work in the same building, so a question about a tooth position or a bite adjustment gets answered in person, not by email days later. It also means a denture can go through a round of refinement before you ever try it in, rather than arriving as a single, unreviewable finished piece.
The fitting and refinement loop
Where a try-in stage applies, it lets you see and feel the denture's shape, shade, and bite before it's finished, while changes are still simple to make. After the denture is complete, fitting continues: your denturist checks for pressure points, adjusts the bite, and talks you through the first few weeks of wearing something new, since some soreness while your mouth adapts is common and usually settles with small adjustments rather than a remake. Quality doesn't stop at delivery – it includes relines and adjustments over time, since your gums and jawbone continue to change shape gradually, and a denture that isn't adjusted to match will start to fit less well than it did on day one.
What this process protects you from
Skipping steps in this process is usually what leads to the problems people describe with a poorly made denture: sore spots that don't resolve, a bite that feels off, or a denture that needs replacing within a year or two instead of years later. An unhurried impression, a design built around your face rather than a template, and a lab that can adjust the work before and after delivery are what stand between a denture that needs redoing and one that doesn't. If you'd like to talk through what this process looks like for your own mouth, book a free consultation with one of our denturists.
Reviewed by our licensed denturists · Updated July 2026