If you have missing teeth, or teeth which need to be removed due to root canals or gingivitis, you probably have experienced the insecurities which come with problems with your smile. However, there is an option, if you want to avoid surgical and expensive dental implants-dentures.
Dentures are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and which are supported by surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable, however there are many different denture designs, some which rely on bonding or clasping onto teeth or dental implants.
There are two main categories of dentures, depending on whether they are used to replace missing teeth on the mandibular arch or the maxillary arch. The two types of dentures are removable partial dentures, and complete dentures.
Partial dentures are for patients who are missing some of their teeth on a particular arch. Fixed partial dentures, also known as "crown and bridge," are made from crowns that are fitted on the remaining teeth to act as abutments and pontics made from materials to resemble the missing teeth.
Fixed bridges are more expensive than removable appliances, but are more stable. On the contrary, complete dentures or full dentures are worn by patients who are missing all of their teeth in a single arch, for example the maxillary (upper) or mandibular (lower) arch.
The history of these dental braces go way back, even to 700 BC, believe it or not. People in northern Italy were making dentures out of human and animal teeth to replace gaps they had, due to a lack in dental care and knowledge about hygiene.
Complete sets of false teeth appeared in Japan, and were shaped out of wood up until the Meiji period of their history. The first porcelain dentures were use around 1770, by Alexis Duchateau--twenty years later, they began to develop in London.
As time has evolved, the kinks are slowly being worked out. Where false teeth were originally uncomfortable and crude, they are now quite comfortable and even look very natural.
However, they still come with a set of problems which can be bothersome to patients. Problems with dentures include the fact that patients are not used to having something in their mouth that is not food.
The brain senses this appliance as "food" and sends messages to the salivary glands to produce more saliva and to secrete it at a higher rate. This will only happen in the first twelve to twenty four hours, after which, the salivary glands return to their normal output.
New dentures can also be the cause of sore spots as they compress the soft tissues mucosa (denture bearing soft tissue). A few denture adjustments for the days following insertion of the dentures can take care of this issue.
Gagging is another problem encountered by a minority of patients. At times, this may be due to a denture that is too loose, too thick or extended too far posteriorly onto the soft palate.
At times, gagging may also be attributed to psychological denial of the denture. Psychological gagging is the most difficult to treat since it is out of the dentist's control.
In such cases, an implant supported palate-less denture may have to be constructed or a hypnotist may need to be consulted. Sometimes there could be a gingivitis under the full dentures, which is caused by accumulation of dental plaque.
One of the most common problems for new full upper denture wearers is the loss of taste. This can be very frustrating for the wearers, and be a factor that doesn't make wearing false teeth worth it.
Another problem that can come is with stability. They sometimes pop out at unwanted times, and can become loose, causing patients to not want to speak in public.
The more the denture base runs in smooth and continuous contact with the edentulous ridge (the hill upon which the teeth used to reside, but now consists of only residual alveolar bone with overlying mucosa), the better the stability. Of course, the higher and broader the ridge, the better the stability will be, but this is usually just a result of patient anatomy, barring surgical intervention.
Dentures can be a great solution for some, or a tricky pain for others. Be sure to talk to your dentist about all of the possibilities, and what would work best with your needs.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor is a former dental assistant and has authored hundreds of articles relating to oral health. He worked for a dentist in Beaufort South Carolina before becoming a guest dental lecturer for the past 15 years.
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