In addition to directing the fabrication of the denture, dentists provide information to patients on the proper care and use of the appliance. Dentures must be cared for properly. For example, placing removable dentures in water or a denture cleanser solution, when they are not being worn, helps the denture retain its shape, remain pliable and keeps it from drying out. Dentures should never be placed in hot water as it could cause them to warp.
Typically, a removable partial denture is made of a metal framework with pink plastic to replace the gum tissue and plastic or resin denture teeth. The number of missing teeth and their location will affect the comfort and stability of the removable partial denture. The use of dental implants may increase the stability of a removable partial denture, or dental implants may be the best solution for replacing the missing teeth.
See your dentist as soon as possible if your removable partial denture breaks, cracks or chips or if one of the teeth becomes loose. Also, your partial denture may need to be adjusted if you lose one of the supporting natural teeth. Sometimes dentists can make the repairs, often on the same day. Complex repairs can take longer. The sooner you make an appointment, the sooner you have a well-fitting partial denture again.
Most patients need a few weeks to get used to the feel and use of their new dentures. Until the muscles of the cheeks and tongue adjust to the new dentures and learn to keep them in place, they may feel a little loose. It will also take time before you are comfortable putting your dentures in place and removing them. Since the mouth increases the amount of saliva produced in reaction to the new dentures, patients should expect to have mild sores and irritations in their mouth.
However, in today’s always-on advertising world there is a lot of misinformation surrounding procedures like ours in which dentures and dental implants are used. If you open the newspaper on Sunday, you’ll find four to five advertisements stating that patients can get “dental implants” at outrageously low prices. In most cases, it’s not accurate. Remember the old adage, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Implant technology can vastly improve the patient's denture-wearing experience by increasing stability and preventing bone from wearing away. Implants can also aid retention. Instead of merely placing the implants to serve as blocking mechanism against the denture's pushing on the alveolar bone, small retentive appliances can be attached to the implants that can then snap into a modified denture base to allow for tremendously increased retention. Available options include a metal "Hader bar" or precision balls attachments.
Full or partial dentures consist of a gum-colored base made of plastic resin, which fits over the remaining alveolar (bone) ridge that formerly held the teeth. The prosthetic teeth projecting from the base are designed to look and function just like your natural teeth. Dentures are held in place primarily by the suctioning effect of their close fit against the alveolar ridges — that's why it's so important that they are fitted properly. The upper denture also gets extra support from the large surface area of the roof of the mouth (palate), which generally makes it extremely stable.
"Terrel Myers is without doubt one of the best dentists - anywhere! He is friendly and compassionate but most of all he is extremely knowledgeable and experienced as a dentist. He doesn't automatically take the easiest (sometimes more convenient and expensive route) that others tend to do (in my experience elsewhere) but instead - if at all possible, will give you suggestions and options on remedying a problem. This guy knows what he's doing and does it well. I highly recommend him for anything from the simplest problem to the most complex."
Later that afternoon I came back to have 16 teeth extracted. I got to the office and waited about 30 minutes before I was seen. I got to the back and began injections. After this I went to a full blown panic attack and came close to passing out. The one positive is the dentist who was working on me took it in stride. I wasn't treated disrespectfully and after about 30 minutes the panic subsided and she was able to finish my injections and begin pulling teeth.
