Dentures are artificial teeth that look, feel, and function like natural teeth. There are different types of dentures to treat minor to severe tooth loss. Tooth loss can cause insecurity in your smile and difficulty chewing and speaking. By wearing dentures, you restore your tooth structure and functionality while boosting your confidence. Whether you’re missing a few teeth or most of your teeth, this will cause gaps in your smile and reduce the support to your face, especially around your mouth. Contact your dentist in Greenville to schedule a consultation.
A partial denture has a maximum life expectancy of 15 years.
Dr. Ladd will examine your teeth to rule out oral health problems and determine if you’re a good candidate for dentures based on the extent of your tooth loss.
To prepare you for full dentures, your remaining teeth need to be removed. This is done under anesthetic. After removing any teeth, we will take impressions of your mouth to create full dentures or impressions of your teeth to create partials.
After extracting teeth, it takes 8 to 12 weeks for your gums to fully heal. While your official dentures are being fabricated in a dental lab based on your impressions, we will place an immediate temporary denture in your mouth.
You will come back to the office for a trial fitting. This is a mock-up of your dentures set in wax. This helps us determine if any adjustments need to be made based on your bite.
After changing the dentures as much as necessary, we will hold a fitting for your final dentures. Dr. Jennings will explain how you can get used to them.
A partial denture replaces 1 or a few missing teeth. Artificial teeth made of resin or porcelain are attached to a gum-colored base that is connected through a metal wire framework that hooks around supporting teeth with metal clasps. Placing a partial denture after losing a tooth will prevent your other teeth from shifting.
Full or complete dentures are when you are replacing all of the teeth in an arch or both arches in the mouth. Full dentures are only used to treat severe tooth loss because your remaining teeth need to be extracted.
The denture forms a tight seal around the gums, which holds it in place. After extractions are performed, you will need 1 to 3 months to heal before we can fit you for dentures. Immediate temporary dentures are already pre-fabricated for you so that you don’t have to walk around without teeth while you heal.
This will help you perform everyday tooth functions like eating and speaking. Using impressions that we take of your mouth along with your jaw record, a dental lab creates a custom-made denture for you to try on, and then we make as many adjustments as necessary to ensure you are comfortable and that they are fitting properly.
Full dentures last for 7 to 10 years on average but may need to be relined or rebased if your facial structure changes.
