Fit a Locator Liner

I’m Dr. Jenny Emerson. I have a lot of patients who can’t always make it to the dental office, and so I like to give you the tools in order to take care of your own prosthesis. Let’s talk about how to switch out a locator liner.

When we switch out a locator liner, this tool just simply unwinds slightly: This is the piece that grips it to remove it, but you don’t want to screw it all the way in because the dimple is forward. So, unscrew it so that the dimple is just inside and then that will grip the nylon liner. Then the hooks on the side of this instrument will grab firmly on the housing, and there it is. In order to pop that off, screw this back in and the dimple helps to push out the cap.

In order to place a new locator right back into that housing, when we unscrew this all the way, this round piece matches the internal of your nylon. That’s the piece that we push directly into the metal housing. So, the blue snap fits right into that metal housing, and flip that housing right into that space, and then firm-firm pressure and you’ll hear a snap. And there it’s right into place. These are wonderful little snaps, much like the snaps on a jacket that just pop right in, and they snap right down in the mouth so you hear that click.

If you have any questions or concerns about the fit or if your prosthesis doesn’t snap right back into place in your mouth, talk to your dentist.