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The Effect of Poorly-fitting Dentures

By Reno Laser Dentistry

December 22, 2011

Category: Dentures

Tags: Dentist Cosmetic Dentistry Reno Laser Dentistry Reno Dentist Dentures Dental Implants

Patients should be aware that your mouth naturally changes with age, especially once the natural teeth are removed. Bone and gum most often recede or shrink, which cause the jaw to align improperly. With any patient that has traditional dentures shrinking gum ridges can cause dentures to fit less securely, chewing difficultly, and may change the appearance of a patients face. Dentures that are fitted improperly can cause health problems such as infections, oral hygiene is essential to maintain adequate oral care. Generally, the looseness problem can be corrected by relining the denture with new plastic.

However, there’s too little bone for an adequate foundation for any denture and remaking the denture only helps to a limited degree. Consequently, the 2nd and 3rd sets of dentures generally don’t provide the same chewing ability as the first. There are several alternatives for denture wearers, and those considering dentures, to protect the bone and make dentures more secure and comfortable, such as saving a couple roots of teeth or placing implants to secure the denture.

If a patient has bad teeth and wants to have dentures, it is advisable to save the canine teeth in both jaws to support and retain the denture. This protects the bone from shrinking and the lower canine teeth can have snap-attachments placed to hold the denture in place. If a person has no teeth, then implants can be used to stabilize and secure a denture. Dental implants offer a variety of alternatives for replacing missing teeth. Dr. McElhinney is an expert on dentures and implants, contact his office for more information.