What is a denture?

2022-08-05

Denture

An artificial tooth that replaces a missing natural tooth. Also known as dentures. The denture can cause partial or even total loss of teeth due to severe periodontal disease, dental caries and trauma. Missing teeth can affect facial appearance, pronunciation, chewing function, and increase the burden on the stomach and intestines, and if not restored in time, the neighboring teeth can be tilted and displaced, and the opposing teeth can be elongated, causing misalignment. Partial loss of teeth can be repaired by fixed denture or removable denture, and full denture (total denture) can be repaired when there is no tooth.

Usually, fixed denture is used to restore incisors or one or two posterior teeth, and removable denture can be used regardless of the number of missing teeth. The fixed denture is completely burdened by the abutment teeth, i.e., a crown or inlay is made on the abutment teeth as a bridge base, and the missing tooth area is used as a bridge, and the whole is bonded to the abutment teeth. Removable dentures can take several forms. Generally, metal rings are placed on the remaining teeth to keep the denture in place, and the abutment is placed on the alveolar mucosa of the missing tooth area; there is also a form of retention with peg attachment; there is also a modified double-crown removable denture, in which the abutment teeth are first restored with crowns and a double-crown removable denture is worn on them, so the abutment teeth must also be strong or require enhanced treatment (such as partial tooth removal, joint crown, etc.) to disperse the force (more (more abutment teeth, more abutment area). The fixed denture requires more grinding of the abutment teeth in order to make the restoration fit with the abutment teeth and not to cause secondary caries. The removable denture requires very little tooth grinding, especially the removable denture called segmental denture, which makes full use of the abutment recess and soft tissue recess for retention. However, the crown form of the remaining teeth should be trimmed to eliminate the unfavorable force and avoid cheek and tongue biting. Fixed denture is small in size, less foreign body feeling, easy for patients to adapt, and high chewing efficiency. The removable denture has a more pronounced foreign body sensation, which requires an adaptation phase and attention to cleaning after meals. The more teeth are missing, the larger the denture, the less teeth are supported, and the lower the chewing efficiency. Therefore, teeth should not be easily extracted, and measures should be taken to preserve diseased teeth. The more teeth are preserved, the more the denture force can be dispersed, and the chewing efficiency can be restored better and longer.

After the total absence of teeth, the lip is wrinkled, the cheek is collapsed, the chewing function is lost, the patient's demand for dental implants is urgent, the total denture fixed on the plastic abutment can be used to repair the total denture. The second is the negative pressure, when the abutment is closely attached to the edentulous surface, and the surrounding is well closed, the negative pressure between the two is less than the atmospheric pressure, and the atmospheric pressure on the denture surface keeps it from falling off. The greater the area of the attachment and support, the better the effect of retention and support. Generally, the upper front teeth are mainly for appearance, and it is best to restore the shape close to the original. The posterior teeth are mainly for chewing function, and the morphology of artificial teeth can be changed, such as choosing low or no cusp, but the sharpness and wear resistance of the teeth should be increased to facilitate chewing, and attention must be paid to orthodontic, anterior extension and lateral balance, which is beneficial to the stability of the denture and can also reduce the atrophy of the alveolar. Tooth placement after tooth extraction is usually done after the wound has healed. Good wound healing takes about 2 to 3 months, at least 1.5 months, so that the patient is toothless for some time. One method is to take a mold before the extraction, make a good denture and wear it immediately after the extraction, called a preformed denture. This eliminates the need for a period of missing teeth. It is easier for the patient to get used to the denture and for the intermaxillary relationship to be restored. However, this is only suitable for anterior teeth or front molars that leave a pair of upper and lower jaws with an occlusal relationship. A denture with too many teeth will not fit easily. After a certain period of time, the prefabricated denture will have to be filled and modified to fit the wound after it has healed.

The need for denture care

Improper denture care, how can the elderly talk about health:.
1. Incomplete cleaning of dentures.
It produces odor, affects diet, reduces gastrointestinal function; breeds bacteria, causes ulcers or other oral and visceral diseases.
2、Insecure fit to the mouth.
Chewing pain, unable to eat normally, produce friction swelling pain, ulcers; cause dental caries, periodontal disease, denture stomatitis and other diseases.
3、Inappropriate cleaning method of dentures.
Hot water or alcohol soaking, rinsing, leading to damage, deformation, reduce the service life; toothbrush easily wear denture, produce brush marks, hidden bacteria infection oral cavity.

The scientific care steps of the denture

Dental experts summarize the active denture care methods, can be summarized in three words.
(1) "pick".
In order to maintain oral hygiene and avoid gum damage, should do after meals should take off the denture cleaning. Before going to bed, you should take off your dentures and put them in a cleaning box to keep the mucous membrane in your mouth healthy.
(2) "Soak".
Washing dentures with plot pieces with water can be, do not use hot water, alcohol soaking, so as not to age deformation. Every night before bedtime take off soaked in denture cleaning solution for 3-4 hours, tartar heavy soaking effect is better all night.
(3) "Sticky".
If the denture and oral fit is not stable, easy to wear the dental bed, breeding germs, affecting dietary health, the use of denture security powder and other professional products, so that the denture and oral fit tight, chewing comfort.

A smile starts with your teeth and a denture changes your life.