What You Should Know About Dentures

Contrary to popular belief, dentures are not only worn by the elderly. Anyone who has suffered from severe dental complications that have resulted in irreversible damage may benefit from teeth replacement devices. While certainly not for everybody, a pair of quality dentures can not only transform your smile, but they can drastically fortify and improve your overall health.

Dentures are remarkable devices that provide both functional and aesthetically pleasing teeth. Unlike dental implants, they are removable and are best suited to replace whole sets of teeth, not just a few here and there. They replace natural teeth that may be too damaged to bite with or have since fallen out for good. They can generally be broken up into two categories: partial and full dentures.

Partial dentures replace missing or unrecoverable teeth and are surrounded by your original teeth. Full dentures replace all teeth in the upper or lower part of your mouth. Sometimes a full set of dentures will replace all the teeth in your mouth. Full dentures can be categorized as follows:

• Immediate dentures: These are custom made before the process of extracting teeth happens. These are useful when a patient needs the use of their teeth immediately following a procedure.
• Complete dentures: These are made to either serve as a replacement to an old set of dentures that you’ve worn for years or as the next step after a pair of immediate dentures need to be replaced.

One special procedure that Dr. Wilstead offers are implant dentures, a combination of sophisticated implant dentistry techniques and dentures. Dental implants are titanium bolts that are surgically anchored into the jawbone to allow for optimal stability. With implant dentures, convenience is added to the mix, making it relatively easy to remove with the help of clips and fasteners.

Among other benefits, implant dentures can:

• Restore lip support and maintain facial structure by preserving bone in your jaw
• Reduce the appearance of wrinkles around your mouth
• Restore your confidence and your smile