Q: I need to have a front tooth pulled and then wait four months before my implant, then four months more for the crown. I was told the only way to have a temporary tooth during this time is to where a removable denture with one fake tooth. My dentist called it a “flipper”. This sounds very cumbersome; any ideas?...Dr. Vatore in Boynton
A: Anything you put in your mouth named after a TV show about a sea mammal can’t be fun. A “flipper”, or transitional partial denture, is very common. They can temporarily affect speech and can be difficult to eat with (much like my parents after two glasses of wine.) A new product called “Snap It” uses a specially designed custom acrylic set of teeth that clip to the adjacent teeth. The device is made in a lab from a set of impressions of your teeth. Not every patient is a candidate. For more info on this subject or any other dental topic, contact our office at 239-936-5252.