Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Types of Full Dentures

When you lose all of your upper or lower teeth, you may want to consider a full denture for replacing them. There are better tooth replacement options, but for some people on a budget, dentures may be the only course to pursue as an immediate solution to their problem. If this applies to you, there are ways that you can benefit from them.

Full dentures will allow you to eat three meals a day, speak clearly in conversations, and have a smile that is presentable to others.

You will need to be examined by a Houston cosmetic dentist to make sure that dentures will work for you. We will need to perform a full dental examination of your gums and any teeth that remain in your mouth. The examination normally includes taking a set of X-rays to see how healthy your jawbone is. We will also need to take impressions of your mouth in order to make a working model of it.

Finally, we record the positions of the center line and lip line in order to know exactly where to place your dentures. When all this is finished, we talk to you at length in order to agree upon the very best shape and color for your new cosmetic tooth replacements.

The good news is that there are four types of full dentures. Each one offers a different set of benefits to people in different situations. We help you determine which type is best for you.

Standard dentures
These dentures use as much surface area as possible in order to maximize stability and retention. They extend all the way to behind the hard bone in the back of the mouth. Most of the time, they are prescribed for people who have already lost all of their teeth.

Immediate dentures
Immediate dentures are made before natural teeth are extracted. As cosmetic dentists, we prefer to save existing natural teeth rather than to pull them like this.

Implant retained dentures
Full dentures that are retained by implants are the most expensive dentures you can get. However, they are also the very best you can get. The implant itself is a titanium screw that goes into your jawbone to simulate a natural tooth root. This allows your jawbone to retain its shape and original mass.

Overdentures
Overdentures look like regular dentures, but they work differently. They are actually held in place by some of your natural teeth. Overdentures are more stable as a result and feel more natural within your mouth. Because we are able to leave some of the natural teeth in place, you lose less jawbone mass as a result.

The shape of your mouth depends upon a full set of teeth or teeth replacements. Without them, your lips and cheek cave in and your face starts to prematurely wrinkle. Full dentures retain the shape of your mouth and maintain the proper function of your jaw muscles. Dentures with implants will also halt jawbone recession.

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