DENTURES – NEW HYDE PARK, NY
Dentures and partial dentures are removable appliances used to replace missing teeth. There are two different kinds of dentures: complete dentures and partial dentures.
Complete Dentures
Complete dentures are used when all of the teeth are missing. In our office, we make immediate dentures, meaning that on the day that your teeth are extracted, you immediately receive your denture so that you never have to go without teeth. Immediate dentures will shift a little bit as the tissues heal and will need to be relined at a future visit, usually six months later.
Partial Dentures
Partial dentures are used when some teeth are missing but some remain. Partial dentures also prevent the remaining teeth from drifting over time. Partial dentures are a mixture of metal clasps that can hang on to your existing teeth and acrylic, which is used to restore the missing teeth.
To replace missing teeth, which will aid in chewing and digestion, enhance your smile and increase your chewing efficiency.
Depending on what kind of denture you choose, you can plan on several appointments to complete the process. We’ll take highly accurate molds of your mouth, we may need to modify any existing teeth that you’re planning on keeping, and we’ll need to take accurate measurements to ensure the denture fits as well as possible. In addition, we’ll have a few appointments where you can come in and try the denture at different stages of fabrication to ensure the teeth are the right color, the right shape and in the right position for your smile.
Experiences will differ from patient to patient. Most patients experience increased saliva flow and some soreness or difficulty with speech at first. This subsides quickly over time as your tissues and muscles become accustomed to having a denture.
Upper dentures are much easier to get used to than lower dentures, and it is much easier to get used to a partial denture where some back teeth remain than if all of your back teeth are being replaced by the partial denture.
Partial dentures usually are not implant-supported. However, complete dentures, which are much more difficult to get used to, may be supported by dental implants. This means that rather than simply resting on the tissues in your mouth, we will work with a dental specialist who can place an implant in your gums, and the denture can “snap” into place over the implant, thus greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the denture. Implant-supported dentures allow patients to chew much more efficiently, and they stay in much better than complete dentures that are not supported by dental implants. You should bear in mind that getting a dental implant is fairly expensive and, usually, you will require two to four implants for a lower denture and four to six implants for an upper denture. However, if the finances can be obtained, patients are usually much happier with implant-supported dentures.
