Dentures

Dentures refer to a removable dental appliance that replaces missing teeth. Today, there is a focus on retaining everyone’s teeth but occasionally a tooth may be lost or need to be removed.

The reasons a tooth may need to be removed include:

  1. Your tooth develops a vertical crack that has travelled well beyond the nerve into the roots of the teeth.
  2. A tooth becomes unrestorable due to excessive decay and infection deep below the gums.
  3. Advanced gum disease results in the tooth becoming excessively loose and painful.

Why would we recommend a removable denture instead of a fixed solution such as a bridge or implant? Here are some of the reasons:

  1. In dental trauma cases or when you are undecided as to which options to choose, a removable denture is “tooth friendly” as it does not involve drilling of other teeth or any surgery … Being completely removable it can give you the time to consider the best options before proceeding to a fixed option.
  2. In dental implant cases, a denture gives the implant at least 3 − 6 months for it to fully heal with the surrounding bone before the crown is made.
  3. Patients who have had extensive gum cleaning but still suffer with advanced gum disease may need removable dentures, especially if there is a likelihood that further teeth may be lost in the near future.
  4. Existing denture wearers may be seeking a new denture to be made if they were comfortable and happy with their old dentures.

denturesTo the left is a picture of two types of dentures that have been made, the traditional metal-acrylic denture as well as the non-acrylic denture. (Image courtesy: Valpast.com)

Dentures, just like dental crowns can be made from various materials such as traditional acrylic (polymerised methyl methacrylate) with metal clasps to grip onto the teeth, metal / acrylic combinations (which fit better & last longer) or non-acrylic and non-metal dentures for people with suspected metal and acrylic monomer sensitivity. The last type of denture is sometimes made from a material called Valplast.