With so many advances in modern dentistry, fewer people need to wear full dentures. If you have older dentures or think you may need dentures, you're in luck. Denture technology has never been better.
As people age, dentures can cause the user's age to look older than they really are and can cause pain when chewing. We can replace worn out dentures with custom made, state-of-the-art dentures. Dentures can blend with your skin, hair and even eye colour. Your dentures can look as natural as possible, even down to the fillings.
Before going to the plastic surgeon, get a "face lift" with comfortable, attractive dentures.
Full dentures can also be supported by Implants/other attachments for better fixation. Below two roots being used for snap on Denture fit method.
As an alternative to bridges and implants, dentures can be used to replace several missing teeth. It is possible to get either full, or partial dentures. Full dentures remain in place by form fitting to the gum ridges. Partial dentures often have additional ridges that fit around the natural teeth helping them stay in place.
It can take several visits to our dental specialist in order to be properly fit with a denture. Our dentist will take several impressions of the gums, and send these to our technicians. They uses these impressions to construct your new dentures. On the next appointment, you and our dentist will check the dentures to ensure that your bit is correct and that the dentures meet your approval.
Considerations One of the significant disadvantages of dentures is resorption of the underlying bone. The bone is normally maintained by the stresses of chewing. When the teeth have been removed, the bone is no longer subject to the same stress, and therefore begins to atrophy. The use of dental implants instead of dentures maintains the same kinds of stress on the underlying bone and prevents bone resorption.
Types of Dentures
Complete or full dentures : replace all the teeth in the upper or lower jaw. A denture helps you to properly chew food, a difficult task when you are missing teeth. In addition, a denture may improve speech and prevent a sagging face by providing support for lips and cheeks.
Overdenture: is a denture that uses precision dental attachments to hold the denture down. The overdenture attachment can be placed in tooth roots that have been saved, or placed into dental implants which have been placed to receive them.
Immediate denture : is constructed before teeth are removed so that you will not be without any teeth. Constructing immediate dentures involves taking impressions (making copies) of your mouth before the teeth are removed. When your remaining teeth are removed the denture can be inserted immediately.
Partial denture : is a removable dental appliance that replaces multiple missing teeth. It can be attached to the teeth with clasps (clasp or conventional partial) or it can be attached to the teeth with crowns with precision attachments (hidden clasps). Both types have a metal framework and plastic teeth and gum areas.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Dentures
Advantages :
- Dentures provide a pleasant, natural looking smile.
- They are extremely durable.
- If well maintained, they should last averagely from five to ten years.
- They can correct problems with speech to chewing, for many patients.
Disadvantages :
- Dentures take a little while to get used to.
- In the first few days, you may encounter speech problems.
- You may suffer from mouth irritation or sores. These are usually caused by your new
denture , poor dental hygiene, and not removing your dentures when needed.
- You may only chew at 15-23% efficiency compared to a person chewing with their
natural teeth, because the chewing force will not go directly to your bone.
- In the case of a full upper denture, the upper palate is full covered and this will affect
your sense of taste.
Repairing your Dentures
If your partial denture breaks, cracks or chips, or if a denture tooth becomes loose, contact our clinics immediately. Do not try to fix it yourself. However, our dentist can usually repair a broken denture, often on the same day.
It is especially important to see our dentist if your partial denture breaks while you are eating. This sometimes indicates that there has been a change in the fit of the dentures because the underlying tissue has changed. When our dentist repairs your denture, he or she will also examine your mouth and check whether your partial denture needs adjustment.
Dentures of one form or another have been in use for more than 2,000 years. However, these substitutes for missing natural teeth have never been as effective, easy to use and appealing as they are today.
Dentures that fit properly can improve your appearance, eating and speaking. But before you start wearing dentures, you must make a choice. After all your teeth are removed, you can wait until the extraction sites have healed before having dentures made or you can have immediate dentures inserted right away. There are four main benefits of immediate dentures:
• You will never have to appear in public without teeth.
• Immediate dentures protect the extraction sites, help control bleeding and keep bits of food from entering the wounds, which can cause irritation and inflammation.
• Immediate dentures can minimize changes in your appearance that can occur when your natural teeth are removed. Because the dentures provide continual support, the tongue, lips and cheeks will not change position.
• Your transition to dentures is shortened. You will not have to learn to speak and chew without teeth and then relearn with dentures.
Yet immediate dentures are not for everyone. A few people should not have them because of general health conditions and specific oral problems.
Immediate dentures also require more visits to your dentist. As the tissues in your mouth heal, they will shrink. This can alter the fit of the dentures, requiring that the bases be adjusted or relined. More complex procedures are involved in the design, construction and refitting of the dentures, too, so immediate dentures are more expensive.
INITIAL SENSATIONS
When you first begin to wear dentures, they may feel loose. Until you have learned to keep them in place with the muscles of your cheeks and tongue, they may tip when you chew, allowing food or liquids to pass under them.
No matter how thin the dentures are, they will feel bulky. They may make your tongue feel crowded or may cause a slight gagging sensation. Until your gum ridges are used to supporting dentures, your mouth may feel sore or irritated. Your saliva flow may also increase temporarily.
After a few weeks, as your oral tissues become adjusted to wearing dentures, these problems should decrease. If you continue to experience irritation or excessive soreness in any area, you should see your dentist.
APPEARANCE
When you first get dentures, your facial expression may seem different. A more normal expression will return when the muscles of your cheeks and lips adapt to the dentures.
Dentures may improve your appearance by changing the shape of your face, and reducing facial creases. Dentures teeth also will look straight, white, and healthy.
EATING
When you are first learning to use your dentures, it is best to eat soft foods. Cut your food into small pieces and chew slowly on both sides with your back teeth to keep your dentures from tipping. After a few days, when the dentures feel more comfortable, gradually try coarser and harder foods until you are able to eat a more normal diet. Avoid eating sticky or very hard foods until you have more experience with wearing dentures. Learning to chew properly takes practice.
Be cautious when eating. Remember that dentures now cover many of the surfaces of your mouth, so it will be more difficult for you to feel a burn from hot foods or a sharp bone.
SPEAKING
Sometimes, wearing dentures can make a difference in the way you pronounce certain words. To help overcome any speech difficulties, practice reading aloud. If the dentures teeth click together when you talk, speak more slowly. Bring any problems to your dentist’s attention at your checkup.
At first, you may find that your dentures become loose when you laugh, cough, or even smile. To reposition them, close your teeth together gently and swallow.
WHEN TO WEAR YOUR DENTURES
Follow your dentist’s advice on how long you should wear your dentures each day. You may be advised to wear your dentures most of the time for the first few days. This helps protect tooth extraction sites and helps the mouth tissue adjust to the dentures more rapidly. Also, if the dentures are left out of your mouth for long periods of time, any sore spots in your mouth may swell, making it difficult to reinsert the dentures.
After you have become accustomed to wearing dentures, however, your dentist may recommend that you take them out before going to bed at night, and put them in again in the morning. This gives your mouth tissues a chance to rest and helps maintain oral health.
CARING FOR YOUR MOUTH
Even with dentures, you still need to take care of your mouth. Each day before inserting your dentures, brush your gums, tongue and palate with a soft-bristled brush, to remove plaque and stimulate circulation.
Visit your dentist regularly-even if you no longer have any natural teeth-for a complete oral examination. Besides checking your dentures, the dentist will check for signs of oral cancer, and examine your gum ridges, tongue and jaw joints. If you suffer from dry mouth, technically termed xerostomia, artificial saliva may be prescribed. Your dentist will also look for signs of general diseases, including diabetes, that can show up in the mouth.
CARING FOR YOUR DENTURES
For a healthy mouth and fresh breath, clean plaque and food deposits from your dentures daily. This also helps keep the dentures from becoming permanently stained.
Dentures should be handled carefully! Dropping them-even a few inches into the sink-can break the dentures base or a tooth. When cleaning or inserting your dentures, hold them over a towel or a basin half-filled with water. And always keep your dentures out of reach of children and pets.
Before brushing your dentures, rinse them well to remove any loose particles. Next, apply your favorite denture cleaner to a moistened brush and clean all surfaces of the dentures. Brush thoroughly but carefully. Scrubbing too hard can damage the plastic parts of the denture or bend metal clasps.
Many special denture-cleaning agents are available-ask your dentist about them. Some people prefer to use hand soap, a mild dishwashing liquid or baking soda. Household cleaners and some toothpastes should not be used on your dentures because they are too abrasive. Do not leave dentures with metal parts in denture-cleaning solutions for longer than the instructions recommend; some cleaners may tarnish the metal. Never use bleach on your dentures.
Sometimes ultrasonic cleaners are used along with denture-cleaning solutions to remove stains more quickly. Although these devices can clean dentures slightly more effectively than soaking solutions alone, the dentures still must be brushed.
It is best to use a brush designed for cleaning dentures. These brushes clean more effectively, because their bristles are arranged to follow the shape of the dentures. A regular soft-bristled toothbrush is an alternative. Brushes with stiff bristles can damage the plastic denture material.
If dentures become dry, they may change shape. When you take your dentures out at night, place them in a container of denture-cleaning solution or water-ask your dentist which to use. Never put dentures in hot water, as they can warp.
Do not try to adjust or reline your dentures yourself. This can cause serious harm to your oral health. Improperly relined dentures may be bulky, which can cause pressure on the jaw and more rapid loss of jawbone. If the bony ridges of the jaw become too small, your present dentures will be useless and it will be far more difficult for your dentist to make new ones. Do-it-yourself reliners can also irritate the soft tissues of the mouth, causing sores.
If your dentures break, crack or chip, or if a denture tooth becomes loose, call your dentist immediately. Dentists can usually repair broken dentures, often on the same day. Using a do-it-yourself repair kit can damage the denture and may make it impossible to repair. It is almost impossible for someone without the proper training to align the broken parts of a denture correctly and over-the-counter glues often contain chemicals that can damage the plastic denture material and harm oral tissues.
LONG-TERM DENTURE SUCCESS
Although your dentures will keep their shape, your mouth continues to change. The bone and gum ridges that support your dentures can recede or shrink, causing your jaws to come closer together. If ridge shrinkage occurs, your dentures will begin to feel loose and less stable. Your ability to chew will decrease, and your face may acquire deep aging lines and wrinkles.
Prolonged use of ill-fitting dentures can irritate the gums, tongue and cheeks and cause the ridges of the mouth to shrink to the point where it will be almost impossible to fit them with normal dentures. Constant irritation can also lead to open sores and serious infections.
To prevent or correct these problems, you should see your dentist regularly. Only your dentist can determine what changes have taken place in your mouth and what should be done to correct the fit of your dentures.
Your success in wearing dentures depends on you. With a positive attitude, persistence and regular professional care, you can become one of the millions of people who wear dentures successfully.
OVER DENTURES
Get tight fit dentures by preserving two to three teeth Called Over Dentures.
Crowns are given on the preserved teeth
Counter crowns are fitted in the denture
The denture snaps on the crowns in the mouth and holds it tight
One can perform all the movements without shaking the denture
Bring tongue out, denture does not move
Move the tongue to left; denture is stable
