Denturist: FSA Eligibility

Dental care for cosmetic purposes such as teeth whitening is not eligible.

Eligible expenses for Limited FSAs can vary. To find out exactly what your Limited FSA covers, contact your FSA administrator.

What is a denturist?

A denturist is an individual who specializes in the fit, construction and repair of dentures, also known as denturism. While they are not licensed dentists, only a handful of U.S. states allow denturists to practice independently, while in other states they can work under the supervision of a licensed dentist. While many dentists' offices can create dentures for their patients, in some cases, this service will be outsourced to denturists who have a greater degree of specialty in creating full or partial dentures for patients (Verywell Health).

How does a denturist create dentures?

While denturists cannot perform important steps in the denture creation process, such as inserting dental implants or extracting teeth (usually done by an oral surgeon), denturists are involved in the denture process from start to finish, which begins with preliminary consultations to go over the patient's options and obtain the medical and dental history of the patient from his/her primary dentist. Next, the denturist will take a set of impressions of the patient's palette that will inform the rest of the design process. Following this step, the denturist will examine the relationship between the patient's bite and gum line, as well as examining this ratio through the use of wax molds of prospective dentures.

Once these consultations and hands-on examinations are complete, the denturist will construct the full or partial denture to match the specifications of the individual patient (full dentures may require multiple consultations). Once the patient and the denturist have found the right mix of utility and aesthetics, the dentures' layout will be set in place and it should be ready for daily use. Any future issues or repairs necessary with these dentures can be handled by the denturist going forward (Oregon State Denturist Association).