Dentures are the most cost effective alternative to replace a missing tooth. People usually go for dentures when there’s multiple missing teeth, or when they have no teeth.

Normally I like to tell my patients, that nobody ever truly loves their denture. The reason is, your bone disintigrates over time. If you stop going to the gym, your muscle shrinks. Similarly, if you lose teeth, your brain thinks there’s no need for bone, so that starts shrinking. This means that the bone underneath the denture is always shrinking. This means that your denture is guaranteed to not fit as well over time.

Two Types of Dentures

Partial Dentures

There’s partial dentures, which have a metal framework. These clasp onto existing teeth that are strong. You can eat with them, and they are functional. However, nobody ever truly loves their partial dentures compared to a more permanent solution such as an implant or a bridge to replace those missing teeth.

Complete Dentures

The other kind is a complete denture. We make beautiful complete dentures here. The lab makes the gums look so real, and the teeth we chose are always suited to the face and personality of the patient. It’s always nice to see a well fitted denture.

Implant Retained Dentures

There’s a catch. Nowadays, for patients that have lost all their teeth, I really strongly recommend getting implant retained dentures. Implants will trick your brain into maintaining some of the bone that is required to support that denture. The denture will clip onto these implants. Long term this is the difference between patients laughing comfortably, and enjoying their steaks and food well into their retirement.

On the flip side, if they don’t get implants, and they lose all their bone, that’s when you see dentures falling out of people’s mouth, an inability to chew, and of course a drop in confidence cuz then you’re always going to be conscious about that happening. This also takes a toll on your nutrition since you just can’t chew as well.

Classification of Dentures

There are several types of dentures to suit different needs:

• Complete Dentures – Full dentures are the type of dentures that are used to replace an entire arch of teeth when there are no natural teeth remaining. Complete dentures fit over the gums and are designed to improve the overall appearance of the smile.
• Partial Dentures – are used in the case where some natural teeth are still present as they are in a severe state of degradation. Partial dentures have a metal or acrylic framework that clasps onto existing teeth which provides additional support to the framework.
• Immediate Dentures – are installed the day the teeth are removed, enabling patients to fasten their teeth while the healing process is still taking place.
• Implant Supported Dentures – have the added advantage of being affixed to multiple dental implants for increased stability, ease of chewing, and improved bone retention.

So, you really want to take this investment for dentures seriously. It’s really, a lifestyle decision. Even if you get a few implants for the dentures, long term, it will be well worth it for you or your loved ones. We have many patients investing in their parents’ health.

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The Importance of Dental Hygiene

We take your dental hygiene very seriously here. We measure your gums annually, and we want to see improvements. Our hygienists and doctors know that healthy gums, not only means healthy teeth and mouth, but a healthy heart. There is a strong association with heart disease and gum disease.

We will educate you thoroughly on how to maintain your gums with good hygiene.

We want you want to think of your gums like a sponge to your heart. If your mouth is dirty, your heart is dirty. It’s funny because people will make sure their dishes are clean, they will spend hours making sure their house is clean, but their teeth are dirty. The reason for that is you don’t get to see your teeth. Your eyes don’t create that visual connection with your mouth. if you saw your arm bleed, you would immediately get a bandaid. But you see don’t see your teeth, so for some reason it doesn’t get registered as that important.

We are here to help you realize just how important it is.

Everyone gets a personalized schedule, ranging from every 3 months, 4 months, or 6 months depending on the state of your gums. The goal is of course to have you on the normal schedule of having a cleaning every 6 months.

In fact, don’t call it a cleaning. It doesn’t sound as important. If you think of it as gum therapy, now all of a sudden it sounds a bit more important.

Laser Dentistry

One of the cool things we offer is laser dentistry. Our hygienists are trained with laser dentistry. The laser is able to kill so much bacteria. We have seen wonderful results in terms of gums healing, so we are excited to offer that to our patients. It is painless, quick, effective, and a great addition to the office.

What is Laser Dental Cleaning?

Technology is incorporated in the process of dental hygiene with the use of lasers. As the case with other forms of dental hygiene, lasers are able used to clean the mouth of a patient sans dental plaques. Unlike other techniques of cleaning the mouth, the laser uses a manual hand piece to rid the mouth of harmful plaques and biofilms that are notorious for causing harmful dental diseases beneath the gums. This is done a lot more precisely than merely using hand-held ‘picks’ and ‘scrapers’ to clean the mouth. The entire procedure in and of itself is less invasive and is much more comfortable for the patient, unlike any other techniques of dental hygiene.

In terms of laser cleaning, the benefits that come with it are:

• Seeing less gum inflammation and bleeding.
• There is a much lower healing time in comparison to other techniques in use.
• Hard to reach areas are cleaned much more efficiently.
• There is minimal pain in comparison to other techniques in use for the patient.

Personalized Preventive Care

Each individual has unique needs relating to their hygiene. This is more specifically true when discussing the maintenance of the gums: for some persons, dental gums need to be cleaned every three to four weeks, whereas other persons are more than fine with a cleaning done every six months. With respect to using laser cleaning, it is able to offer you the following: improved gum health, lower odds of rotting teeth, quiescent dental diseases, and help you retain more of your teeth.

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