Dentures in Tega Cay, SC

At a Glance

Service: full, partial, immediate, and implant-retained dentures, with implant surgery and restoration performed in the same office
Serving: Tega Cay, SC, including the lakefront neighborhoods off Tega Cay Drive, Stonecrest, and the Gold Hill Road corridor
Office hours: Mon to Thu, 8 AM to 5 PM; closed Fri to Sun
New patients: yes, accepting new denture patients from Tega Cay
Differentiator: 3D cone beam imaging on site for implant planning, so implant-retained dentures are mapped to your actual bone before surgery is scheduled

Dr Klaudia Falkovsky Dentist Rock Hill SC

Picture the cookout on the dock in July. Corn on the cob, a burger with the works, laughing with your mouth open and not thinking about it. If you have been living with loose teeth or gaps for a while, you already know how far that picture has drifted. You cut food into small pieces. You cover your mouth. You skip the steak at the Golf Club because chewing it in public is not worth the risk.

That is the problem dentures solve, and it is worth being specific about what solving it looks like, because the outcome depends heavily on which denture you get. The sections below describe life after treatment first, then work backward through how you get there.

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What Changes After the Denture Goes In

Chewing comes back first. A well-fitted full denture restores enough bite force for most foods, and an implant-retained denture restores substantially more because it does not shift under load. Patients with implant-retained dentures routinely go back to apples, corn on the cob, and steak, foods most conventional denture wearers learn to avoid. Partial denture wearers keep the chewing power of their natural teeth and use the partial to fill in the rest.

Speech settles within a couple of weeks. The first days involve some lisping on S and F sounds while your tongue relearns the space. After that, most people speak the way they did before, and people who lost front teeth years ago often speak more clearly than they have in a long time.

Your face changes too. Missing teeth let the cheeks and lips fall inward, deepening the lines around the mouth and making the lower face look shorter. A full denture is built to restore that lost height and support, so the change is visible in the mirror and in photos. Tega Cay has a lot of people who moved here for an active retirement, and the most common thing they say after delivery is that they look like themselves again.

Traditional or Implant-Retained: Different Outcomes

A conventional denture rests on the gums. An upper denture seals against the palate and holds well. A lower denture has a much smaller ridge to sit on, no palate to seal against, and a tongue pushing on it, so it moves. Adhesive helps, and a skilled fit helps more, but movement is a physical limitation of a plate sitting on soft tissue.

There is a second, slower problem. Tooth roots stimulate the jawbone every time you bite. Once the roots are gone, the bone under a conventional denture resorbs year after year. That is why an old denture stops fitting, why relines are needed, why sores develop, and why the face keeps changing even with a denture in place.

An implant-retained denture puts two or more titanium implants into the jaw and snaps the denture onto them. The implants load the bone the way roots did, so the bone stays. The denture does not slip, does not need adhesive, and does not need resizing as often. You still remove it at night to clean it. For a lower arch especially, this is the difference between a denture you tolerate and a denture you forget you are wearing.

Bridges follow the same logic. A traditional bridge anchors to two natural teeth that are ground down for crowns, and the bone under the bridge shrinks over time. An implant-supported bridge anchors to implants instead, leaves the neighboring teeth alone, and preserves the bone.

The Honest Version: What a Denture Will Not Do

A conventional denture will not chew like natural teeth. It will not stay put through everything. It will need relines and eventually replacement, because your bone keeps changing beneath it. An implant-retained denture closes most of that gap but still comes out at night and still has acrylic teeth that wear. Neither is a set-it-and-forget-it appliance. Patients who go in with those expectations are the ones who are happy a year later.

Is a Denture the Right Fix for You

If all the teeth in an arch are gone or failing, a full denture is the answer, and the question becomes conventional versus implant-retained. If you still have healthy teeth in that arch, a partial keeps them and fills in around them. If you are missing one to three teeth, a denture is usually the wrong tool; single implants or an implant-supported bridge do the job without a removable appliance, and both are placed in this office.

Implant candidacy depends on bone. The 3D scan shows exactly how much you have. Patients who have worn a conventional denture for years often have less bone than they expect, but grafting can rebuild it in many cases. The dentist treats gum disease before making any denture, and conditions that affect healing, such as uncontrolled diabetes or heavy smoking, are discussed openly at the consultation because they change the plan.

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What Happens at Each Visit

Visit one is an exam, digital X-rays, and a 3D cone beam scan if implants are being considered. You leave with a written plan and cost estimate. If teeth need to come out, that is the next appointment; an immediate denture can be placed the same day so you are never without teeth. Conventional dentures then follow a series of short visits for impressions, a bite record that sets your tooth position and facial height, a wax try-in you approve before the final is made, and delivery.

Implant cases add one surgical appointment for placement, then a healing period of roughly three to six months while the implants fuse to bone. You wear a temporary or relined denture during that period. Once the implants are stable, the dentist attaches the connectors and fits the final denture.

The Adjustment Period, Week by Week

Week one: sore spots, extra saliva, and a denture that feels enormous. Come in for adjustments as soon as a spot appears. Week two: speech is mostly normal, soft foods are easy, and you start testing firmer ones. Weeks three and four: most patients have stopped thinking about the denture during the day. Immediate dentures need a reline a few months in as the gums finish shrinking. After that, plan on a fit check at every regular exam and an occasional reline over the years.

From Tega Cay to the Office

Take Tega Cay Drive out to Gold Hill Road and join I-77 southbound at Exit 88. Stay on I-77 for about six miles to Exit 82, Celanese Road (SC-161), and head west. After roughly four miles, turn left onto Ebenezer Road. Cross Herlong Avenue and the office is on Ebenezer Road just under a mile past the intersection. The drive runs about 20 minutes and, because you are heading away from Charlotte, you miss the morning backup on I-77 north.

Parking is on site at the building. If you are coming for a denture delivery or a sedation appointment, bring a driver; a spouse can wait in the office and the two of you are back on the lake by lunch.

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Meet Your Dentists

Dr. Andrew Falkovsky, DMD, followed dental school at Rutgers with a general practice residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where he refined his surgical skills and had the uncommon opportunity to perform dentistry in a hospital operating room. He then completed the two-year implant residency at New York University College of Dentistry, the program that trained him in virtual surgical planning, bone and tissue grafting, and implant placement and restoration. Those are the procedures behind every implant-retained denture delivered in this office. He continues to take advanced continuing education courses each year and is a member of the South Carolina Dental Association, the American Association of Cosmetic Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Dental Association.

Dr. Klaudia Falkovsky, DMD, earned her emergency medical technician license in high school and worked as an EMT responding to emergency calls in New York before dental school, which is a background you feel in how calmly she handles patients who are anxious about surgery. She graduated from Rutgers School of Dental Medicine after a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences, and she belongs to the International Congress of Oral Implantologists, the South Carolina Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Dental Association. She and Dr. Andrew are married, and the two spend their free time hiking, camping, and snowboarding with their son.

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Questions From Tega Cay Patients

Will an implant-retained denture let me eat steak and corn on the cob at a dock cookout?

A: For most patients, yes. Implant retention restores far more chewing force than a conventional plate because the denture does not shift when you bite. Corn on the cob and steak are the two foods conventional denture wearers most often give up, and they are the two that implant-retained denture wearers most often report getting back. Your dentist will confirm after the 3D scan that your bone supports implants.

I'm on Lake Wylie most weekends. Can I swim or boat with dentures in?

A: You can, but a conventional denture can come loose in the water and a lost denture is a real risk on the lake. Implant-retained dentures snap in and stay in, which is one reason Tega Cay boaters choose them. If you wear a conventional denture, use adhesive on the water and keep a case on the boat.

We just relocated to Tega Cay and my denture was made in another state. Can you take over?

A: Yes. Bring the denture and any records you have. The dentist will check the fit, the bite, and the condition of the acrylic, and will tell you if a reline restores it or a replacement makes more sense. Tega Cay gets a steady stream of new residents from the Northeast and Midwest, and taking over existing denture care is routine here.

How long from first visit to finished denture if I still have teeth to remove?

A: With an immediate denture, you have teeth in place the day of extraction and a relined, settled fit a few months later. With a conventional denture, extractions come first, healing takes six to eight weeks, and the denture appointments follow over several more weeks. Implant-retained cases add three to six months of healing after placement. The written plan gives you dates, not ranges.

I take client calls all day from a home office. Will a denture affect my speech long term?

A: Not long term. Expect a few days of lisping on certain sounds while your tongue adjusts, and practice by reading aloud. Most patients speak normally within two weeks. A well-fitted upper denture actually improves clarity for patients who had been talking around loose or missing front teeth, and implant retention removes the slipping that causes mid-sentence clicks.

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