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Dentures in Edmonton

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Dentures

Dentures are commonly known as "plates" or "false teeth", are oral/dental prostheses that replace missing teeth.

How Do Dentures Work?

Conventional dentures have two parts to them, an upper set and a lower set of artificial teeth. The upper set of dentures has a flesh-colored base that fits over your gums and will also cover the palate (roof) of your mouth. The lower set of dentures is similar, but also has enough room to fit your tongue. 

How Long Do Dentures Last?

Dentures are not indestructible, your dentures will eventually need to be relined, possibly even remade or rebased in the future due to normal wear and tear.  When your dentures are rebased, the dentist will replace the old base with a new one, this is the part that sits directly on the pallet or the bottom of your mouth. With normal wear and tear, your dentures can loosen, this will make chewing and speaking difficult, your gums will also get irritated. To minimize the chance that these changes will happen, please see your dentist at least twice a year.
 
Here are some maintenance tips for your dentures:
 
  • If you are handling your dentures, make sure you are doing so over soft padding like a towel, if they fall onto a hard floor or counter they could break.
  • Make sure the dentures are kept moist, never leave them in an area where they could dry out and warp. If you do take them out for a long period of time, make sure to stick them in a full glass of water, the dentures should be completely submerged.
  • In the morning before you wear your dentures, be sure to brush your gums and palette, this will help get rid of any acids or bacteria from your daily food intake.
  • Also brush your dentures directly before inserting them into your mouth to help keep them clean.
Pair of dentures held by dentist

How Many Types Of Dentures Are There?

Fixed Dentures 

These are implant-supported and require surgically placed implants. The denture is fastened to the implants with screws. The implants themselves are placed in the jaw bone. Fixed dentures are typically made out of the same acrylic as removable dentures, but can also be made out of zirconia, porcelain, or metal fused to porcelain. The latter is also considered a full-arch implant-supported bridge. 

Removable dentures 

These are the most popular and most common types of dentures. When most people think of dentures, they are most likely to be thinking about removable ones. There are multiple kinds of removable dentures.

Complete dentures 

A set of complete dentures will replace the upper AND lower teeth. The upper denture is usually more stable and retentive because it creates suction with the roof of the mouth, and covers more surface area. The lower denture is horseshoe-shaped, and gets dislodged more frequently, and is more unstable during function (chewing, talking, etc.).

Partial dentures 

Partial dentures replace one or more of the teeth in an arch and are anchored by the surrounding existing teeth in the same arch. Partial dentures can be made out of acrylic, or metal and acrylic.

Implants – retained complete dentures – these involve two or more dental implants which provide retentive support by allowing the denture to ‘snap in’. The mechanism usually involves a male cap that is attached to the implant and protrudes from the gums which snaps into the female housing in the denture. There are also cases where a titanium bar may be incorporated.

Hybrid partial dentures

Involves a removable denture that utilizes existing natural teeth AND implants to retain and stabilize the denture. These types of dentures are particularly useful when most or all the missing teeth happen to be on only one side of the arch. In this case, the implant(s) can be used to support the denture on the side with fewer or no teeth.