Are You a Good Candidate for Dentures? Here’s How to Tell

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, severe tooth loss — defined as having eight or fewer teeth — impacts your ability to eat meats, fruits, and vegetables, and presents another obstacle to eating a healthy diet.

Over one-quarter (26%) of adults 65 or older have eight or fewer teeth. This makes finding an effective restoration option a high priority for this population.

At Hometown Family Dental Centers, our expert dental professionals offer several tooth restoration options, including removable dentures, for our patients in Fayetteville, Raeford, and Vass, North Carolina. This option, especially if combined with dental implants, can be a game-changer for your oral health. Here’s how to tell if you’re a good candidate for dentures.

What are dentures?

Dentures are a removable tooth restoration option that fills in the missing teeth and surrounding tissues. We may recommend partial dentures when you still have some of your natural teeth, and complete or full dentures when you’re missing an entire arch (or both arches) of teeth.

Partial dentures

A removable partial denture contains porcelain, acrylic, or composite resin replacement teeth that match the color of your adjacent teeth. These attach to a gum-colored acrylic base, and the whole thing connects to a metal framework that holds the appliance in your mouth.

The partial denture not only replaces the missing teeth, but it also prevents nearby teeth from moving into the empty spaces left by the missing teeth.

Complete dentures

Removable complete dentures may be an option if you’re missing all your teeth. If you’ve had extractions, you need to wait 8-12 weeks post-extraction for your gums to heal and change shape before getting your dentures.

Complete dentures feature a full arch of acrylic teeth attached to a gum-colored acrylic base. They slide onto your gums and stay in place through suction, or you can use a dental adhesive like Fixodent® to ensure a secure fit.

Full dentures require an adjustment period, during which you need to relearn how to chew food properly and speak clearly, but they’re natural-looking, so no one will know they’re not your original set.

If you want to take dentures one step further, you can get implant-supported dentures. The dentist first screws a titanium post, which serves as the tooth “root,” into your jawbone. You then wait about 3-4 months for osseointegration to take place — the fusing of the bone tissue with the implant.

Once your mouth is completely healed, we attach a small connector, known as an abutment, to the post. This connector then snaps into place with the denture that sits on top. The implant not only keeps the denture from slipping in your mouth, but it also provides “bite force” from chewing that stimulates normal bone growth.

Getting new dentures

Getting dentures takes several appointments. Once we determine what type of appliance meets your needs, we follow these general steps:

• Make a series of impressions of your jaw
• Take measurements of how your jaws relate to one another and how much space is between them
• Create wax or plastic models in the exact shape and position of the final denture for you to try
• Assess the model for fit, color, and shape
• Cast a final denture

No matter how many fittings you’ve had before the final denture is made at the lab, you’re bound to need some minor adjustments. Expect to come back an average of 4-8 times until the fit is exactly right for you.

New dentures may feel a bit uncomfortable at first until your cheek muscles and tongue figure out how to keep them in place, and you become used to putting them in and taking them out.  It’s not unusual to experience minor irritation or soreness and for saliva flow to increase when you first start wearing them, but these problems diminish as your mouth adjusts.

If you’re in pain, though, contact Hometown Family Dental Centers ASAP. This is not a normal experience.

Your dentures should last about 8-10 years if you treat them just like your normal teeth, cleaning them regularly and coming into the office for twice-yearly visits.

Am I a good candidate?

If you’re missing just one or two teeth, you might want to consider going with a dental implant. However, if you’re missing many teeth or all your teeth, dentures may be a good option for you. Make sure you discuss the pros and cons of each option with the dentist when you come in for your consultation.

To learn more about dentures, or to schedule a consultation, call Hometown Family Dental Centers in Fayetteville, Raeford, or Vass, North Carolina.