Dr. Ross is Your Dentist for Dentures

Getting dentures is a great option for replacing missing teeth. Dentures can replace all teeth or only some teeth.  Partial dentures are designed to work in concert with existing natural teeth, whereas full dentures replace all natural teeth.

Dentures provide the appearance of natural looking teeth in the mouth and the ability to chew properly. However, dentures just don’t match up to real teeth. Dentures have one-tenth the chewing efficiency of natural teeth, will affect your facial profile (this can sometimes be a positive attribute) and speech, can cause your body to salivate in response to the denture (generally temporarily), and the shape of the gums will eventually change with time affecting the fit of the denture which can cause sore spots or the denture to become loose. Some patients are unable to use dentures because they lack the anatomy to support, stabilize, and/or retain the dentures or they have a severe gag reflex, which often necessitates the use of implants with the denture.

The making of dentures will take several steps to complete. And once completed, the new dentures need to be checked and maintained by our office roughly every six months to ensure they are functioning properly and have the proper fit. With time, the gums will generally shrink and a reline process will need to be performed to compensate for this periodic shrinkage.

Daily home care is also very important towards the longevity of the denture, gums, and any remaining natural teeth. After each meal, the remaining teeth mush be brushed and flossed (if present) and the denture must be rinsed and cleaned. Care must be taken when cleaning the denture so as to not damage its finish. Certain types of denture materials require only specific types of cleaning solutions to be used on them. This is particularly common for partial dentures, as there are several different material types available for their design. Additionally, any gritty cleaner, like a tooth paste, will mare the finish of the denture with time. Check with our office as to what cleaning solution is best to use for your dentures.