Dentures and Partials
Dentures are a removable piece of hardware used to replace some or all of your natural teeth.
Types of Dentures
Dentures come in two standard types:
- Conventional dentures are not fitted until after the gums and jaw have fully healed from the extraction of your teeth.
- Immediate dentures are fitted before your teeth are extracted and can be worn almost immediately. Immediate dentures will require several more fittings than traditional dentures, as the shape of your jaw and gums will change during the healing process, but they have the advantage of immediately restoring your teeth after the extraction.
Partial dentures can be used when only some of your teeth need to be removed. Partials function similarly to a bridge but are removable.
Adjusting to Dentures
When you are first fitted for dentures, you may have to wear them all the time, including while sleeping. This will allow your dentist to quickly find spots that need to be reshaped due to discomfort or irritation. After the dentures are properly fitted to your jaw, dentures can be removed at night.
While dentures are not real teeth, you will want to care for them as if they were. Brush your dentures to remove food particles before removing them. You will need to deposit your dentures into warm water or a denture cleaning solution as soon as you remove them from your mouth. Hot water can warp dentures, so be careful!
It can take some time for your mouth to adjust to the shape of dentures. At first it may feel awkward and bulky to have the appliances in your mouth, but over time, you will become accustomed to the dentures.
Contact our office today for more information on whether dentures are right for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When patients talk about “cosmetic dentistry” we are always interested to hear what people think that means. To us, dentistry has evolved to the point that we feel most services could be considered “cosmetic” as we use tooth colored filling material for almost everything. That said, many people consider cosmetic dentistry to include the use of porcelain crowns, porcelain veneers, bonded white fillings on front teeth, tooth whitening or bleaching, and white fillings on back teeth. And yes, we routinely perform all of these procedures. We also utilize Invisalign to help straighten your teeth, and dental implant restorations to restore a single tooth, multiple teeth, or even all of your teeth. In fact, we even feel the conventional dentures and removable partials we fabricate also fall into the cosmetic category as we not only use top labs and materials, but also take every extra step to ensure they look as realistic as possible. So yes, we do perform all of these cosmetic dental services, and we will discuss them with you, as well as present options and risks of treatment before we start your treatment. Give us a call to set up a consultation so we can see what can be done.
We always make every effort to make dentures and partials, as well as any other restoration, disappear and look natural in the mouth. We use premium brand tooth manufacturers to get the most natural esthetic results, and always try to design the prosthetics to maximize esthetics. That said, there are occasions where options available may make it more difficult to completely hide the fact that they are dentures, or more often partials. We always use extra appointments to verify esthetic satisfaction prior to final fabrication. This allows our patients to give final approval before final processing. We often find that the biggest challenge to the dentures and partials looking real is the fact that patients often want teeth that are too white and too perfectly set. When doing our setup, we will discuss this with our patients prior to selecting the desired shade of teeth and doing our setup. We always work with our patients and lab to deliver the final result that patients desire. If you need a denture or partial, give us a call to see what we can do for you.
Dentures and partials are both treatment options that utilize removable prosthetics to replace missing teeth. Full dentures replace all of the teeth when they are all missing, while partial dentures are used when some natural teeth remain and we need to replace the missing natural teeth with artificial teeth. Traditionally, both of these options involve prosthetics that the patient can take in and out of their mouth by themselves in order to clean them; however, modern dentistry also allows us to present options with implants. Utilizing implants we can now fabricate dentures or partials that the patient can take in and out of their own mouth by clipping onto implant attachments, as well as options that involve screwing the teeth into the implants where the patient cannot remove the teeth by themselves. Give us a call to see which options are available to you.
Having a missing tooth can be very stressful when considering esthetics, the treatment one needs to undergo to replace the tooth, or teeth, and the costs associated. Since every patient has their own individual needs as well as financial constraints, it is not always up to us to decide what is “best” for you. We will always present all of the available options and weigh the pros and cons as far as optimal dental treatment goes. Along with that, we will present the fees associated with all of these options. Finally, we will present you with options for third party finance companies to help spread the costs over a longer period of time where costs are a concern. We will try to find a way to allow you to get the best treatment, the treatment that you deserve, but also understand if the “best” treatment just isn’t feasible at this time. We will then work to help you decide on one of the alternate options
Meet Our Doctor:
Robert C. Clay Jr. DDS
Dr. Bob grew up on the far southeast side of Chicago. After graduating from St. Francis de Sales High School, he attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, specializing in microbiology. Dr. Bob went on to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago Dental School where he received a second Bachelor’s Degree, a Bachelor of Science in Dentistry, followed by his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Following graduation, he completed his state and national board exams and began practicing dentistry in ...
