So you’re missing teeth and are looking for solutions to give you a full and complete smile. Well, lucky for you, you’ve stumbled on exactly the right article.
Dentures are one of the best solutions for tooth replacement, especially if you need a full set of prosthetic teeth, but there are several different types of dentures. That begs the question: which type of dentures is best for you?
Today, we’re going to answer that question. We’ll dive into the nitty gritty and explain the details of each type of denture so you can find out which one is best for you and your unique needs. Let’s take the first step toward your new teeth.
1. Partial Dentures
The first type to explore is partial dentures. As the name implies, partial dentures are only intended to replace part of your full set of teeth, not all of them. If you’re missing several teeth, but you still have most of your natural teeth remaining, a partial denture might be all that you need to get your perfect smile.
Like most dentures, partial dentures are typically made from acrylic resin. This material allows them to be adjusted relatively easily while still having the strength they need to chew.
How They Attach
Partial dentures differ from full dentures in how they attach to your mouth. They still have a gum-colored base, but the base does not adhere to the gums with suction or adhesive.
Instead, they will typically attach to your natural teeth with a metal framework. This framework extends off the partial denture and is molded to fit into your natural teeth. You simply clip your denture onto your existing teeth to create a full smile.
Some partial dentures are meant to be removed every day for cleaning. Others are permanently installed into your mouth to give you a similar experience to having natural teeth.
2. Full Dentures
Full dentures, also called complete dentures, are a full set of replacement teeth. This method is meant for people who have little or no teeth left. If you have a few teeth remaining, they are extracted to make room for the denture to be placed on top of your gums.
Full dentures are removable, and rely on your gums and adhesives for suction but have the risk of slipping and sliding or falling out of the mouth while talking.
How Full Dentures Attach
Most of the time, full dentures fit to your gums, so a little bit of suction will secure the dentures to your gums. You may also need to secure your dentures with denture adhesive, which can be uncomfortable.
Although they can help you smile and chew fairly normally, there are a few downsides to this type of denture. Most obviously, there’s the issue of your dentures moving around on you. Nobody wants the embarrassing experience of your dentures falling out while talking or eating.
Second, there’s the issue of your health. Natural teeth place pressure on the muscles in your face and the jaw bone. This pressure helps to keep them strong and healthy. Without that pressure, these muscles and bones can atrophy, potentially leading to jaw bone loss or jaw bone atrophy.
Jaw bone loss can be uncomfortable and even painful. It can lead to your face sinking and changing, and it can also increase your risk of developing gum disease. Traditional dentures don’t do anything to help prevent or remedy this.
3. Permanent Dentures
Next up, we have permanent dentures. This type of denture is anchored permanently onto your gums through dental implants. These implants are like screws installed into your gums and anchor to the bones of your jaw and mandible.
This effectively resolves the problems with traditional dentures. You don’t have to worry about your dentures moving around, and the dental implants also help provide the necessary pressure to your face muscles and jawbone.
The Problems With Permanent Dentures
As good as they are at serving as prosthetic teeth and remedying the problems with traditional dentures, permanent dentures have some problems of their own.
For starters, there is the issue of personal hygiene. Permanent dentures are quite difficult to keep clean. In all likelihood, you’ll get some food and debris stuck underneath your dentures.
This can certainly be uncomfortable and annoying, but it can also lead to bad breath that just won’t go away. You may brush and brush but still have bad breath — it can be difficult to remove and manage.
But this can also be a risk to your health. Having debris under your dentures can lead to bacterial growth, which, if unchecked, can increase your risk of developing gum disease. To counter this, you need to have your dentures professionally removed and cleaned annually, but this doesn’t remove the risks.
So although permanent dentures offer some solutions, they also present some new problems that can be inconvenient and risky.
4. Anchored Dentures
This last type of denture is a big technological innovation that has come about in recent years. Anchored dentures, or implant-supported dentures, are a hybrid between permanent and traditional dentures.
They offer you a full set of prosthetic teeth that snap securely in place but are easily removable at the end of the day. It does this with the power of dental implants and SureSNAP technology.
Essentially, you still get dental implants, similar to permanent dentures, but anchored dentures can easily snap on and off of the implants instead of remaining anchored to them permanently.
This means that while your dentures are in, they securely fit onto your gums, and you don’t have to worry about them moving around. But at the same time, you can remove your dentures for daily cleaning without a problem.
The Best of Both Worlds
This takes the best parts of each option and puts them together to make high-quality, convenient, healthy dentures.
Notably, because of the use of dental implants, anchored dentures still help to reduce the risk of jaw bone loss. But it doesn’t sacrifice your health. You don’t have to worry about food getting stuck underneath your dentures, and you can rest assured knowing that your dentures aren’t going to increase your risk of gum disease.
The Right Denture for You
Now, let’s talk about you and your smile. At the end of the day, everybody has a unique mouth with unique needs. If you are only missing a few of your teeth and still have plenty of healthy, natural teeth that populate your mouth, there are options to help you replace your missing teeth.
But if you, like many other people, need a full set of replacement teeth, anchored dentures may be a convenient and effective option. They are the latest innovative technology since the denture itself. They help keep you healthy, help you to chew up your food to restore your nutrition, and, most importantly, help you put on a beautiful smile.
If you’re interested in anchored dentures and would like to explore more with a free consultation, visit the Renew website to learn more and take the next step towards your amazing new smile.
Sources:
What is bone atrophy? | International Congress of Oral Implantologists
Implant Supported Dentures: Process, Benefits & Care | Cleveland Clinic
