Dentures are removable artificial gums and teeth that are held in place through metal clasps for partial dentures or held through suction in full dentures. You can replace a few missing teeth or all of the teeth in your mouth with dentures.
Porcelain teeth are attached to a plastic gum-colored base and look very natural. Dentures from our West Hartford practice help patients with functional, structural, and aesthetic issues from tooth loss. After placing dentures, it is much easier to chew and speak, gaps are filled in to restore the patient’s smile, and the denture adds support to the facial muscles to reduce sagging.
Dentures are a great option for patients who are missing somewhere between a few and all of their teeth. As long as you’re in good overall health and don’t have any active oral health problems, dentures can help restore the function of your teeth.
However, if you’re only missing a single tooth or missing a few teeth on one side, a denture is not the best option for you. In this case, you’re better off with a dental bridge or dental implant.
However, when you are missing multiple teeth on both sides of the mouth or missing a considerable amount of teeth, dentures are the simplest and most cost-effective tooth replacement. You should have sufficient and healthy jaw bone, but this is not as crucial to be a candidate for dentures as it is for implants.
At Arch Dental of West Hartford, we proudly provide full and partial dentures to our patients.
These dentures replace all of the teeth in the upper or lower arches or both arches of teeth. Full dentures are only recommended for patients who have significant tooth loss and only have a few remaining teeth. This is because you are required to extract the rest of your teeth before we can place a complete denture.
If you’re missing a few teeth, especially if they’re not consecutive, a partial denture is a great option. This is a removable alternative to a fixed bridge. Bridges can only replace missing consecutive teeth. A partial denture clips onto metal clasps that are placed onto the abutment teeth.
We’ll need you to come in for a consultation with Dr. Rabia Kaur. X-rays will determine if you have sufficiently healthy gum tissue and jaw bone structure to support dentures.
Before we can take impressions for full dentures, you will need to have your teeth extracted. It will take 8-12 weeks for your gums to heal. We will place an immediate temporary denture until your official dentures are ready.
Impressions are taken of your gums and we’ll take measurements of your jaw and send these to the dental lab that creates your dentures. In the case of partials, impressions are taken of your teeth to serve as a model for your artificial teeth.
This is known as a try-in. We’ll place the sample dentures in your mouth to test how they fit, feel, and look. We’ll take note of any adjustments that need to be made so we can alter the dentures for you. It may take multiple adjustments before they are just right.
Once we’ve reached the desired look and feel of the dentures, we will have a final fitting and place your official dentures at our West Hartford practice.
