Several factors can lead to tooth loss, for example, trauma (injury), dental caries and periodontal diseases, among others. When a person loses a tooth or more, it affects their psychological health in terms of lowering their self-esteem since they can no longer have a bright smile. Also, tooth loss harms the perfect arrangement of your teeth while also affecting your speech in extreme cases. One way of replacing missing teeth is to use dentures that are fitted by a dentist. Dentures are customisable to fit an individual's dental formula but are not permanent since they can be worn and removed. If you have lost your tooth or teeth, here's everything you need to know about dentures.
Why Dentures Are Vital
When you lose a tooth or teeth, the gaps can lead to extreme drifting of adjacent teeth, which subsequently affects the oral function of an individual. The reason is that adjacent teeth can start to grow into the gap at an angle, and thus, diminish your oral function and aesthetics. Similarly, gaps can affect your speech and ability to eat properly. Dentures help to solve these problems by replacing the lost natural teeth. Therefore, dentures improve your confidence by allowing you to have a perfect smile. Furthermore, you can eat normally when dentures are installed.
Complete or Partial Dentures
Depending on the number of teeth you have lost, you can decide to either have a complete denture or partial denture. A complete denture is a full set of false teeth that can replace your lower or upper teeth. For instance, seniors who have lost all their teeth could use complete dentures. Conversely, partial dentures are ideal for replacing a few lost teeth or one tooth. For example, if you had an injury and lost one premolar tooth, a dentist can fix the problem by putting a partial denture in place of the natural tooth.
High-Impact Acrylic Dentures
Plastic and porcelain were common materials for making dentures in the past. However, modern dentures are made using hard resin or acrylic. If you want something durable and tough, then high-impact acrylic is your go-to material. Such dentures absorb any impact and dissipate the force accordingly. As a result, damage to the dentures is limited. Also, high-impact acrylic is non-porous, which translates to a longer lifespan and ease of maintenance.
Fitting
Fitting is important so that dentures can match your teeth's colour, size and shape. Fitting is integral to reduce any discomforts or incidences of dentures accidentally falling from your mouth. Therefore, a dentist will use an impression or mould to ensure proper fit of dentures.