Missing or damaged teeth have the potential to negatively impact your overall appearance, leading to issues with self-esteem and confidence, which may create issues with your personal or professional life. However, these conditions don’t just affect your physical appearance — missing or severely decayed teeth also contribute to systemic health issues and nutritional disorders. Fortunately, solutions exist in the form of full or partial removable dentures.
Removable dentures consist of gum-colored material that fits over the gums using a seal and prosthetic teeth that mirror the appearance and functionality of natural teeth. Although dentures of the past tended be awkward affairs that frequently caused embarrassing situations for their wearers because they tended to slip during eating and talking, modern dental technology offers realistic options that more closely resemble the real thing.
How They’re Made
Today’s removable dentures are created using an accurate impression of the top and bottom alveolar ridges in the patient’s mouth, which is then sent to a dental lab to create the base of the dentures. The base is then fitted with prosthetic teeth, keeping size and shape in mind to create a smile that is as natural in appearance as possible. Materials used for the teeth include composite resin and porcelain. Composite resin is generally less expensive as well as more durable than porcelain, but porcelain has a natural translucence that better mimics the appearance of natural teeth.
How to Care for Them
It’s important that those with removable dentures take them out on a nightly basis, clean them using a soft-bristled brush and a nonabrasive denture cleaner, and soak them overnight in a mild solution designed for use on dentures. Rinsing them well after meals is also recommended. Keep in mind that gum tissues may become infected if bacteria is allowed to build up on the dentures.
Please contact us for more information on dentures and other dental health issues.
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