Dentures are what most people call ‘false teeth’, and are made of either acrylic or metal. They replace missing teeth to give people the ability to eat and talk normally, and to restore the aesthetic features of your face. There are two types of denture, full or complete dentures and partial dentures. A full denture replaces all the teeth on one jaw, whereas a partial denture just fills in the spaces left by missing teeth and is usually attached to the remaining teeth with metal clasps.
What’s the Procedure?
All London dentists should be able to fit you with dentures as they will have been on many dental courses to become prolific with the treatment they carry out. After assessing your needs, the dentist may need to extract some teeth, and you may have to wait a while for your gums to heal before anything can be done. Usually if you have extractions your dentist will provide you with ‘immediate dentures’ to wear while your gums are healing. The dentist will take impressions of your gums which are used as a model for your new dentures. These should be a perfect fit for your mouth, so no fixatives are needed. The idea is that the dentures stay in place because of the suction created by your gums.
Things to Think About
There are some problems with dentures as a dental job that you ought to be aware of. They are likely to come loose over time and cause sores, and if this happens you should use a fixative as a temporary measure and then get your dentures replaced. An alternative solution is to attach your dentures to a dental implant, a procedure which can be quite costly but can improve you quality of life drastically. Eating with a denture may be difficult at first, as might speech, but you will get used to both. You need to take good care of both your mouth and your dentures, cleaning your gums with a soft toothbrush and brushing your dentures regularly too. It is recommended that you take them out at night to rest your gums, and soak the dentures in a glass of water.
