Everything You Need to Know About Dentures
Dentures can help improve the comfort and quality of your smile!
Did you know that 178 million Americans have lost at least one of their teeth? That’s a lot of business for the Tooth Fairy! In addition to those 178 million Americans who are missing at least one tooth, there are approximately 40 million Americans missing all of their teeth. While a single missing tooth might be replaced with a dental implant, if you’re missing all of your teeth or a large portion of your top or bottom teeth, your best option is often dentures.
What Are Dentures?
Dentures are an appliance that allows your lost or missing teeth to be replaced with artificial pearly whites. There are different types of dentures available, but most are made from either acrylic or metal and fitted to your gums and jaw for a seamless fit. With dentures, your smile can be restored and your oral health improved.
If you’ve lost your natural teeth from gum disease, tooth decay, or mouth injury, dentures are an excellent option. With properly fitted and well-made dentures, eating and speaking are improved drastically, meaning that your quality of life goes up! Dentures take the difficulty out of tasks that many take for granted if they have not dealt with tooth loss.
What Dentures Are Available?
At G Dental 32, we help patients restore their smiles with either partial or complete dentures.
Partial dentures are used when you’ve lost some teeth, but not all of your teeth. Partial dentures are typically made with a strong, supportive substructure to increase the strength of the dentures and help improve comfort for patients when chewing. Not all partial dentures are made with a metal substructure, however, though whether you’ll get dentures with metal or without depends on your individual needs and dental history, so that is something best discussed with the dentist.
Complete dentures are, as the name indicates, an option for patients who have lost all of their top or bottom teeth. There are two different categories of complete dentures that are available to most patients—“conventional” or “immediate.” The type of complete denture depends largely on when the teeth are removed. Conventional dentures are ready to be used and placed in the mouth 8 to 12 weeks after the teeth have been removed. Immediate dentures, on the other hand, are made in advance of teeth removal and can be positioned and used as soon as the teeth are removed. With immediate dentures, this means that patients do not need to be without teeth during the healing period, which is an enticing prospect for most people in need of dentures.
What is the Process of Getting Dentures?
The first step to getting dentures is to make an appointment with your dentist for a consultation and initial examination. During this first appointment, your dentist will examine your teeth to determine the state of your teeth and oral health. This will help the dentist know whether you are a good candidate for partial or full dentures and whether or not you will need metal or non-metal-based dentures. This is a great time to ask any questions you might have, too, and make sure you feel confident in the process before proceeding.
Next, the dentist will take a mold of your teeth and measurements of your mouth and jaw. This will be used to make the dentures at a dental lab so that they are custom-fit to your mouth.
If you have any remaining teeth that need to be removed, this will likely be done at a separate appointment. Your dentist will discuss with you what your options are, and they may vary depending on if you will be getting immediate or conventional dentures.
Finally, once your dentures have been created at the dental lab and sent back to your dentist, you will come back into the office for a final fitting. This is where your dentist will help you learn how to insert the dentures and how to care for them properly. You will also be examined while wearing the dentures to make sure that they fit and to see if there are any necessary adjustments. If anything feels off or painful when you try your dentures out for the first time, be sure to let the dentist know. We want to make sure you are as comfortable as possible with your dentures!
What Can I Expect After Getting Dentures?
Like with most dental procedures that involve replacing or modifying your natural teeth, dentures can take some getting used to. For the first few weeks of wearing your dentures, they can feel awkward and cause minor irritation and soreness. The process is similar to getting braces in that it changes the texture and feel inside your mouth, and also causes you to rely on your gums and jaw in new ways.
Additionally, dentures can feel loose and insecure at first because the muscles of your cheeks and tongue take time to grow accustomed to the new appliance in your mouth. You could also notice an increase in saliva which is common when there is new dental work in your mouth.
Any irritation, soreness, or overall discomfort should gradually lessen in the weeks after you get your new dentures, however. You’ll also be closely monitored by your dentist in the weeks following your initial dentures appointment to make sure that everything is going according to plan. Your dentures will also likely need to be adjusted at follow-up appointments to ensure they are fitting properly and not causing any problems.
If you’ve been told you will need dentures, it can seem daunting and intimidating to think about, but we’re here to help! At G Dental 32, we are dental experts and can help answer any questions you might have about the process of getting your dentures. Dentures can greatly improve your quality of life, smile, and happiness, so don’t delay making an appointment to talk about the prospect with one of our expert dentists. With over 40 million Americans missing some or all of their teeth, you’re not alone in needing dentures, and we’re here to guide you through the process one step at a time. Contact us today to schedule your appointment!
