Traditional Full & Partial Dentures

Honeygo Village Dentistry - Traditional Dentures

There are many options when it comes to needing a dentalprosthesis.  Dentures are a great way toreplace missing teeth for speech, eating, and facial fullness.  A few options for removable prosthesesinclude full dentures, immediate dentures, and partial dentures. 

Full Dentures

A full denture replaces the teeth and surrounding gumtissues of an entire arch; mandible or maxilla. Once the patient has been cleared as a good candidate for a fulldenture, any tissue or bone modifications will be completed.  Impressions (molds) will be taken of theridge(s) of bone and color, shape, and size of new teeth is recorded.  The impressions or models are sent to adenture lab where a rim of wax is created. The wax rim is tried in, teeth are placed into the wax, and anyadjustments are made.  The wax portion ofthe denture process may take multiple appointments.  Once the teeth and wax are a perfect fit, thewax is replaced with an acrylic material.  The dentures are then complete anddelivered. 

Immediate Dentures

An immediate denture goes through a similar process.  Although, the wax portion of fabrication isskipped and the denture is delivered the same day as the teeth areextracted.  There is an advantage to thisdenture because the patient does not have to go without teeth.  Unfortunately, more relines may have to bedone because the underlying gum tissues have not gone through the healingprocess.  

Partial Dentures

A partial denture also goesthrough similar fabrication that a full denture does, except a partial onlyreplaces some teeth and not the entire dentition of an arch.  It may also contain metal clasps to help anchoritself to natural teeth for support. 

Removable prostheses are a great option for replacing teethand their function.  They allow people tocontinue to eat, speak, and smile. 

Other Options

You may also want to look into the various implant-supported dentures which are discussed in "Hybrid and Overdentures."