Dentures are removable dental devices that can replace a few missing teeth or an entire arch. They work to help maintain normal functionality of your teeth while enhancing the appearance of your smile. Whether you are considering full or partial dentures in Arvada, the better you understand the process, the more informed decisions you can make about the future health of your smile.
What are Dentures?
Dentures are dental appliances designed to mimic the look and function of your natural teeth. They can be made to replace one or more teeth, in some cases, or all of your teeth, as needed. Most people who get dentures prefer to get immediate dentures that are premade and can be used immediately after teeth are extracted so they can leave the dentist’s office with a full smile intact. These allow patients to go about their normal daily routines while their mouths heal and the swelling shrinks.
Once healing is complete, which can take anywhere from several weeks to up to a year in some rare cases. By this time, the immediate dentures typically no longer fit, and you will need a new set of conventional dentures made that are built for the exact specifications of your smile.
How do Dentures Help?
Dentures help the wearers in many ways. For those who have missing teeth and only need partial dentures, they help to prevent the shifting and crowding of teeth that would happen without the partial dentures holding the place of the missing teeth.
This helps to maintain dental integrity and can help to slow the breakdown of surrounding teeth with proper care and treatment. Full dentures allow you to go about your normal duties as if you still had all your teeth. However, dentures are far more than purely aesthetic. They offer many more benefits than most people realize. Including:
Help you maintain normal speech patterns. Your teeth are more than instruments for chewing. They help you formulate words and speak more clearly. Dentures help in this regard as well.
Assist you in chewing many foods. While dentures are not replacements for actual teeth, they are the next best thing, allowing many denture wearers to eat foods they haven’t been able to enjoy for years.
Improve self-esteem. Many people considering dentures have experienced years of dental problems and damage. Many of them have stopped smiling altogether. Dentures can restore your confidence, your self-esteem, and your smile.
Eliminate dental pain. Broken, cracked, and worn down teeth lead to infections, exposed nerves, and all manner of dental pain. Full extractions followed by full dentures can eliminate the constant cycle of pain for good.
Dentures also help you maintain a more natural appearance so you can go on about your day without the average person you meet knowing you have dentures at all.
Who Needs Dentures?
People who have missing teeth, who need extensive dental work and extractions and those who need immediate solutions to their dental issues so you can return to work and other responsibilities right away are ideal candidates for dentures. Even people who intend to get dental implants in the future may sometimes choose dentures as an immediate solution while either saving for their implants or saving vacation days, so they can take a fair amount of time off work to recover and adjust.
Are there Alternatives to Dentures?
Dental implants and dental implant-supported bridges are viable alternatives to dentures to consider. However, many people facing a need for dentures find the costs of the alternatives to be prohibitive. Not only that, not all dental patients are candidates for implants.
Are you considering dentures to help protect your smile, restore your confidence, or end your dental pain? Contact Arvada Dental Center today to learn more about your options and to get answers for all your denture questions.
