Dentures and Partials
Frederick, MD
Tooth loss is a serious issue that affects your oral health, your smile, and your overall quality of life. It affects your abilities to eat and speak. The quality of your smile degrades, and your confidence suffers. Any healthy teeth remaining in the arch can begin to shift out of alignment, an issue that alters your bite and causes issues such as bruxism and TMJ disorder. At Dental Arts of Frederick, we provide treatment for replacing your missing teeth. We can replace missing teeth with dentures and partials.
What Causes Tooth Loss?
You can suffer tooth loss for a variety of different reasons. Common causes of tooth loss include:
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Facial trauma, such as a car accident, a sports injury, a fall, or a physical altercation.
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Severe tooth decay.
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Bruxism.
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Gum disease. Gum disease is actually the leading cause of tooth loss. |
Tooth Replacement with Dentures
Dentures have been around for hundreds of years as a treatment for replacing missing teeth. They are removable prosthetic teeth that are set into a base, which sits directly on your gums. Your gums, and the ridge underneath provide support for these replacement teeth. Over the years, dentures have undergone numerous changes, all designed to help improve their appearance and functionality. Ivory was a popular material in the 1700s.
Contrary to what many believe, George Washington did not wear wooden dentures. His dentures were made from some of the highest quality materials at the time. Dentures today consist of acrylic resin teeth set into a hard, acrylic, gum-colored base. They are designed to much more realistic and are even vastly different than the dentures of just a few decades ago.
Full Versus Partial Dentures
Dentures are available as full and partial. Full dentures are what most people tend to think of when they think of dentures. These restorations replace an entire arch of teeth, whether it is the top arch, the bottom, or both. Prior to receiving your full dentures, any remaining unhealthy teeth are first extracted. After extraction, an impression of your mouth is taken, which is used to design and create your prosthetic teeth.
Partial dentures are designed to replace sections of missing teeth between perfectly healthy teeth. After all, there is no need to extract healthy teeth. Much like full dentures, partial dentures are designed and created from impressions of your mouth. Their design is similar as well. Partial dentures, however, have metal clasps that help to provide additional support.
How Do I Care for My New Dentures?
Dentures do require special care every day. Each night, they need to be removed for cleaning and left out to give your gums a break. Before removing your dentures, place a folded towel on the counter or fill the sink with water. After taking out your dentures, brush them gently and thoroughly with a soft bristled toothbrush and denture cleaning paste or soap and water. After cleaning your dentures carefully, place them to soak in water or denture cleaning solution. This is necessary to keep them moist while you sleep. This prevents them from drying out and warping. Clean your healthy teeth, your gums, and your other intraoral tissues. In the morning, clean your mouth again, rinse your dentures, and set them in place.
Dentures and partials can both help to restore many of the functions of your missing teeth and give you back your quality of life. For more information, and to schedule your consultation, call Dental Arts of Frederick today at 301-732-7277.
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