Dentures and prosthetic teeth are excellent solutions to retaining the function and appearance of your smile despite any missing teeth! They also have an important role in restoration where crowns and inlays are prosthetics in their own right, just ones that are permanently fixed into other teeth with inlays often referred to as partial prosthetics at the local dentist Stevenage.
Denture sets
A set of dentures is a complete arch of prosthetic teeth, sharing the same foundation. They extend across the entire mouth and rely on being well-shaped and fitted with a good interface with the gum to keep them securely and comfortably in place. Unfortunately, a denture fitting can be very challenging and is carried out after major extractions, so the jaw often recedes and atrophies, and a previously well-fitting denture can become loose and uncomfortable over time.
Most clinics rely on partner dental laboratories to produce their dentures within 10 months, being the usual application time through many clinics to ensure that the final fit is correct.
Partial dentures and removable bridges
Partial dentures and bridges have the dual purpose of replacing teeth and maintaining the location of the remaining teeth. Your mouth is surprisingly dynamic, and teeth will always shuffle into new positions at a speed that many are usually unaware of. When a gap forms, teeth will migrate to evenly space themselves out; when 3 or 4 teeth in a row have been lost, this could cause a very gapped smile.
With a partial denture or a bridge occupying the space, this migration is avoided.
Temporary or emergency dentures
If a patient is without teeth often after very significant trauma or extensive decay and is currently waiting for their dentures to be fabricated, a set of temporary or emergency dentures can be used.
These are pre-designed and come in standard sizes; they will not be customised to the patient. Therefore, the temporary dentures will be significantly less comfortable and less natural in appearance, but they can be provided immediately and are significantly better than having no dentures at all.
Immobilised oral prosthetics
Due to the creative use of implants, much larger prosthetics than a single tooth can be securely attached to the patient’s mouth. This has several advantages, the first of which is avoiding the friction caused by rubbing on the gums with all forms of dentures. They also allow a bridge to be anchored in place without the traditional wiring technique, which places stress on healthy adjacent teeth, usually reducing their lifespan and increasing the chances of cavities and trauma.
The number of implants used will vary significantly depending on the condition of the patient’s jaw. For cases where a large quantity of bone mass is available, any implants that are considered will be the minimum suitable number to immobilize a full denture set.
With more prosthetic teeth needed, less stress is applied on each implant, so a larger number used on a patient with lower bone density has a greater success rate. But this typically increases the cost of the treatment and is also important to balance the inconvenience and recovery needs with the overall needs of the patient. And any form of immobilised denture would be considered inappropriate for patients undergoing chemotherapy or with conditions that reduce bone growth rates like osteoporosis.
