At Super Smiles of Burlington, Massachusetts, we’re dedicated to helping you preserve and protect your natural smile. However, sometimes this isn’t an option due to certain circumstances in your life and dental health history. If these circumstances arise and you find yourself needing dentures, Dr. Emilie Miller and her team of highly trained dental professionals will provide convenient, compassionate care near you to get you fitted for the perfect set of dentures and get you back to smiling again.
What Are Dentures?
Dentures, or prosthodontics, are artificial teeth which replace your natural teeth and restore your smile. They also serve to help you to eat and speak better.
When you lose your natural teeth, due to decay, injury, or gum disease, your facial muscles are also affected and can cause your face to sag, which makes you look older. Dentures help by replacing these tissues, which in turn restores your face to its original shape.
Dentures can be made to replicate your original smile or even improve upon it.
There are three types of full and partial dentures: conventional, immediate, and overdenture. Full dentures are just as they sound and partials work very much like a bridge, except they’re removable.
Conventional Dentures
This type of denture is a full set of removable teeth. After your teeth have been extracted and your tissue has had adequate time to heal, you’ll be fitted with the full denture.
Immediate Dentures
This type of denture is just like it sounds; you get it on the same day your teeth are extracted. On a prior visit, Dr. Miller will measure your jaw and make a model for the denture to be made from so when you come back for your extraction, the denture will be ready to go. This way, you won’t have to be without teeth while your jaw tissue is healing. However, after your jaw has healed, you may need to have the denture relined or even remade to fit properly.
Overdentures
If some of your natural teeth can be preserved, this type of denture will use them to provide support and stability to the denture. Your natural teeth will also help preserve your jawbone from deterioration, as well. The overdenture fits over your natural teeth but otherwise acts like any other denture, in that it’s removable.
What Are Dentures Like to Wear?
It can take a few weeks to get the hang of wearing dentures, but once you do, you should be able to eat and speak like before. And depending on the condition of your teeth before the extraction, perhaps even better.
In the first few weeks, your new dentures may feel loose while your tongue and cheek muscles are learning to keep them in place. You may also notice increased saliva production and possibly some soreness, as well. However, after those initial first few weeks, you’ll likely find you’ve grown accustomed to the dentures and the soreness and extra saliva production will have gone away. If, for some reason, the soreness doesn’t go away, be sure to make an appointment with Dr. Miller for a follow-up examination. Follow-ups will be necessary in any case to check the fit of the dentures and to make any adjustments as needed.
Caring for Your Oral Health and Dentures
Dentures don’t replace the need for good oral hygiene. Your mouth’s health still needs to be looked after, and it still needs to be cleaned. Be sure to brush your gums, cheeks, roof of your mouth, and tongue with a soft toothbrush before putting your dentures in for the day, and again when you take them out for the night. By brushing these soft tissues, you’re helping to stimulate blood flow to them, as well as remove plaque, which can cause bad breath and irritation.
Your dentures will need to be brushed just like your teeth used to, too. Before you brush them, you should run them under the tap for a rinse to remove any food particles which may be hanging around. You can use the same soft-bristled toothbrush you used to clean your mouth on your dentures with a non-abrasive toothpaste to avoid scratching the dentures. After you’ve finished brushing and rinsing your dentures, be sure to put them in a sealed container filled with water so they can soak and avoid any warping.
If your dentures stop fitting well or become damaged, or if you have any other troubles or concerns with your oral health, always be sure to contact Dr. Miller to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Not only does she want you to be happy and healthy, she wants your smile to be a Super Smile!
