Dentures

Dentures also known as false teeth are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable partial dentures or complete dentures. However, there are many denture designs, some of which rely on bonding or clasping onto teeth or dental implants fixed prosthodontics. There are two main categories of dentures, the distinction being whether they are used to replace missing teeth on the mandibular arch or on the maxillary arch.

Medical Uses

Dentures do not feel like real teeth, nor do they function like real teeth. Dentures can help people through:

• Mastication or chewing ability is improved by replacing edentulous areas with denture teeth.
• Self-esteem, because improved looks and speech boost confidence in the ability to interact socially.
• Aesthetics, because the presence of teeth gives a natural appearance to the face, and wearing a denture to replace missing teeth provides support for the lips and cheeks and corrects the collapsed appearance that results from the loss of teeth.
• Pronunciation, because replacing missing teeth, especially the anteriors, enables patients to speak better. There is especially improvement in pronouncing words containing sibilants or fricatives.

Materials

Dentures are mainly made from acrylic due to the ease of material manipulation and likeness to intra-oral tissues, i.e. gums. Most dentures made are fabricated from heat-cured acrylic polymethyl methacrylate and rubber-reinforced polymethyl methacrylate. Coloring agents and synthetic fibers are added to obtain the tissue-like shade and to mimic the small capillaries of the oral mucosa, respectively. However, dentures made from acrylic can be fragile and fracture easily if the patient has trouble adapting to neuromuscular control. This can be overcome by reinforcing the denture base with cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr). They are often thinner therefore more comfortable and stronger to prevent repeating fractures.

Copy Dentures

Can be made for either partial or mainly complete denture patients. These dentures require fewer visits to make and usually, are made for older patients, patients who would have difficulty adjusting to new dentures, would like a spare pair of dentures, or like the aesthetics of their dentures already. This requires taking an impression of the patient's current dentures and remaking them.

Partial Dentures

Removable partial dentures are for patients who are missing some of their teeth on a particular arch. Fixed partial dentures, also known as "crown and bridge" dentures, are made from crowns that are fitted on the remaining teeth. They act as abutments and pontics and are made from materials resembling the missing teeth. Fixed bridges are more expensive than removable appliances but are more stable.

Another option in this category is the flexible partial, which takes advantage of innovations in digital technology. Flexible partial fabrication involves only non-invasive procedures. Dentures can be difficult to clean and can affect oral hygiene.

Complete Dentures

Complete dentures are worn by patients who are missing all of the teeth in a single arch—i.e., the maxillary (upper) or mandibular (lower) arch—or, more commonly, in both arches. The full denture is removable because it is held in place by suction. They are painful at first and can take some time to get used to. There are two types of full dentures: immediate dentures and conventional dentures.