What are Dentures?

Dentures are plates that can be removed. Dentures hold one or multiple artificial teeth that replace the missing teeth. Dentures help people by making them eat and smile more confidently than before. People might take time to get used to it as there is a different feeling as compared to natural teeth. In this article, we discuss the need, different types of dentures and precautions to take while using them.

Need for Dentures
There are certain reasons for which, people need to wear dentures.

• If your teeth are loose and are shifting, or you have gaps (between teeth) that are much wider. This problem is often unnoticeable.
• If you have missing teeth and a few teeth are doing all the work of other teeth, it leads to loosening of more teeth.
• If your gums are bleeding, swollen and if there is prolonged tenderness, it needs to be treated by dentists. This may result in pulling out the teeth if the problem worsen ultimately leading the need for dentures.
• If there is trouble in chewing hard food, this problem might be because of cracked or missing teeth.
• If have any issue, it is sensible to visit the dentist. Do so once in every six months. Problems detected in early stages can be treated easily, and the need of complicated surgeries could be avoided to make things worse.
• If you are self-conscious of smiling and your teeth are not proper, you had better opt for dentures.

Types of Dentures
There are two types of dentures, namely partial dentures and complete dentures.

Partial dentures: In partial dentures, the artificial teeth are attached to a base made of plastic whose color is similar to those of gums – pink in color. A metal frame work is connected to this base. The metal frame holds the teeth in place. Number of teeth the patient requires are supported on this base. Partial dentures help prevent the remaining teeth from shifting or changing their position.

Complete dentures: Complete dentures are made to replace all the teeth in lower or upper jaw. These can be immediate or conventional. Immediate dentures, are used soon after the teeth are removed. Immediate dentures are for patients who do not want to be without teeth during the time given for healing process.

After teeth have been removed, conventional dentures are placed in mouth after eight to twelve weeks. Immediate dentures are the temporary ones and they don’t fit properly. You will have some adjustment problems until you get conventional dentures.

Care for Dentures
Make sure to take care of dentures along following lines.

• Special care should be taken while handling or cleaning the denture to avoid dropping them.
• Remove denture and rinse both your mouth and denture thoroughly with soap, water and solution.
• Brushing and scrubbing daily once keeps your denture clean.
• Overnight soaking of dentures when not wearing.
• Use hypochloride solution for cleaning the dentures.
• If using a solution for cleaning the denture, make sure that you rinse it properly as this solution contains chemicals which may be harmful for the body.
• Go for regular dental checkups.