Dental Flippers

A tooth in the gap, fast — the one- or two-tooth acrylic provisional dentists order for anterior extractions and implant healing, while the definitive plan comes together.

A visible anterior gap needs a tooth in it today, not in three months. A flipper is the fast, esthetic acrylic provisional that covers the space while the definitive plan comes together.

Jahn De Khudikine, Founder · Universal Dental Lab
Jahn De Khudikine Founder · Universal Dental Lab

Why send it here

A flipper that looks fake gets left in the bag. We set tooth shade and contour before you seat the patient.

A practice's schedule lives or dies by the lab — I've watched one late case push back a whole day of chair time.

So I still know the cases moving through this lab, and I answer for how each one is made. Send a case here and it doesn't drop into a queue — it lands with me and one technician who carries it start to finish.

Start a case
Shade-matched pontic
The denture tooth matched to the neighbors so the provisional does not announce itself Esthetics leads an anterior flipper
Intaglio relieved
Relieved over a healing implant so it never loads the site during osseointegration Acrylic relines as the ridge heals
Your technician
One person holds your case Reach them directly — no call-center queue
Free scanner
3Shape TRIOS 6 for partners Go fully digital at no cost

Option Comparison

Flipper, Acrylic Partial, or Valplast?

How many teeth, and for how long, decides this. We make all three — a flipper is the smallest, fastest, most provisional of them.

Single-tooth acrylic flipper on the master model
Dental Flippers You are here
Acrylic transitional partial with denture teeth
Acrylic Partials
Flexible nylon partial with tissue-toned clasps
Valplast Partials
Scope One or two teeth Multiple teeth Small to moderate span
Intended service Short-term / provisional Interim / transitional Longer-term
Best for Anterior gap, implant healing, post-extraction Staged treatment, adding teeth Metal-free esthetics, hidden clasps

A flipper is a provisional appliance for esthetics and space maintenance, not heavy function or long-term wear. Confirm the transitional plan with the lab when you send the case.

Material
Acrylic (PMMA) base
Scope
One or two teeth
Service
Short-term provisional
Turnaround
Quoted per case at intake
A single-tooth anterior flipper seated on the master model

Overview

The Provisional That Buys You Time

A patient walking out with a visible anterior gap is a problem that needs solving today, not in three months. A dental flipper puts a tooth in that space quickly — a simple acrylic appliance carrying one or two denture teeth.

Its job is esthetics and space maintenance, not function. A flipper is light, provisional, and not built to chew hard on, and patients should be told that plainly. What it does well is cover a gap through the weeks or months between an extraction and the definitive restoration.

  • Provisional by design: Esthetic coverage and space maintenance — not a load-bearing appliance.

  • Adjusts and relines: Acrylic reworks readily as the extraction site heals and the ridge changes.

Learn more
A technician relieving the intaglio of a flipper over a healing implant site

At the Bench

Shade-Matched, and Relieved Where It Counts

The denture tooth is shade-matched to the neighbors so the provisional does not announce itself in the smile line, and where the appliance sits over a healing implant we relieve the intaglio so it cannot load the site during osseointegration.

  • Tooth shade: Matched to the adjacent dentition so the pontic reads as a neighbor.

  • Implant relief: Intaglio relieved over healing implant sites — tell us the implant is there.

  • Immediates: Set from the pre-extraction record for placement on the surgical date.

Learn more

Before you seat it

Over a healing implant the intaglio must be relieved so the flipper never loads the site during osseointegration — tell us the implant is there and we design for it. For a larger case or a longer timeline, an acrylic partial is the more appropriate transitional prosthesis.

Case Selection

When a Flipper Is the Right Call

Indicated for

  • Replacing one or two teeth on a short-term basis, most often in the anterior
  • Provisional esthetic coverage during implant healing and osseointegration
  • The gap between an extraction and a definitive bridge, implant, or partial
  • Immediate placement at the time of an anterior extraction
  • Cost-sensitive situations needing an esthetic tooth quickly

Consider an alternative when

  • Several teeth are missing or the case is a longer transitional plan — an acrylic partial is more appropriate
  • The appliance is expected to serve long-term — a flipper is provisional by design
  • Function and load-bearing matter — a flipper is not built to chew heavily on
  • A definitive fixed or rigid removable option is ready to be placed now

Specifications

Dental Flipper Specifications

Material, scope, and record data for planning the provisional chairside.

Typical parameters for the flipper appliances we fabricate.
Material Acrylic (PMMA) base with one or two denture teeth; a clasp may be added where retention requires it
Purpose Interim tooth replacement — esthetic coverage of a gap while a definitive plan is completed
Scope Typically one or two teeth, most commonly anterior, where the visible gap is the immediate problem
Load tolerance Low — a flipper is designed for esthetics and space maintenance, not heavy function. Patients should be advised accordingly
Implant provisional use Commonly used during osseointegration; the intaglio must be relieved so it does not load the healing implant site
Immediate use Can be fabricated for placement at the time of extraction from a pre-extraction record
Adjustability Acrylic adjusts and relines readily as the site heals and the ridge changes
Records Impression or intraoral scan, opposing arch, bite registration, shade, and the tooth or teeth being replaced
Restoration types Single- or two-tooth provisional removable appliances
Turnaround Quoted per case at intake

A flipper is a provisional appliance intended for esthetics and space maintenance, not heavy function or long-term wear. Confirm implant-site relief and the treatment timeline with the lab when you send the case.

Case Submission

Sending a Flipper Case

We accept scans from all major intraoral systems, including iTero, 3Shape, and Medit — or a conventional impression.

Include with the case:

  • Impression or STL of the arch and the opposing arch
  • Bite registration
  • Shade — with photos when the flipper sits in the smile line
  • The tooth or teeth being replaced
  • Whether it covers a healing implant site, and the surgical date if immediate

Telling us about a healing implant is the one detail that changes the design — the intaglio must be relieved so it never loads the site. New to the lab? Open an account and we will walk you through the first case.

Start a case

Send one case. Keep the scanner.

Open a partner account and your first case moves with a shade record and our remake guarantee — if a unit does not seat, we redo it at no charge.

  • Free 3Shape TRIOS 6 scanner for active partners
  • Under-2% remake rate — remakes at no charge
  • One named technician you reach directly — no call center

Prefer to talk? +1 747-268-0808

No call center — you hear back from the lab, not a bot.

Flipper FAQ

Dental Flippers — Questions Dentists Ask

A flipper is the smallest acrylic provisional — usually one or a few teeth, built to fill a gap fast. An acrylic partial covers a larger span and often includes wrought clasps for longer transitional wear. If the endpoint is an implant or definitive bridge, a flipper is usually enough; if several teeth are missing for months, lean acrylic partial.

Tell us the site is an implant in osseointegration. We relieve the intaglio so the appliance does not load the fixture. The two things that go wrong with a flipper are an intaglio that loads a healing implant and an esthetic mismatch on an anterior tooth — both are avoidable when the plan is clear.

A pre-extraction record, the shade, bite, opposing arch, and the surgical date. Immediate flippers are scheduled to the extraction date, not a standard queue.

Yes. Acrylic adjusts and relines easily, so as the extraction site heals the appliance can be refitted rather than remade. That is part of why a flipper works as a short bridge to the definitive restoration.

Yes. An implant during osseointegration is designed differently than a gap waiting on a definitive bridge. Tell us the plan and the timeline — see implant case planning if we are also restoring the site.

Implant case planning

Switching labs, de-risked

New to us? Because a flipper is acrylic, it adjusts and relines rather than getting remade as the site heals — and if a provisional does not seat, we make it right, no argument.

Let's talk

+1 747-268-0808 Contact the lab

More Insights

Partner Offer

A Free Intraoral Scanner for Partner Practices

Partner with Universal Dental Lab and we place a 3Shape TRIOS 6 Wireless in your operatory — free for the length of our partnership. Scan the prep, send it in seconds, and skip impressions entirely.

Send Your First Case Talk to a lab specialist