Dentures

If you are missing one or more teeth, you know all too well how it can impact the quality of your life. Chewing some food can be difficult. Even how you speak can be impacted by missing teeth. The good news is that modern dental technology allows us to create dentures and partial dentures that function very closely to a patient’s natural teeth. These remarkable dental appliances can often drastically improve the quality of a patient’s life, which is why Dr. Baines is pleased to offer dentures and partial dentures as one of the many services he provides to his Austin, TX, area patients.

What You Need to Know about Partials

If you are missing a few teeth or even just a single tooth, Dr. Baines may recommend a partial to replace those teeth. A partial denture typically consists of artificial teeth that are enclosed in a wire frame. That frame sits over existing natural teeth on either side of the gap left behind by the missing teeth. Partials are very similar to bridges; the difference is that partials can be removed by the patient.

What You Need to Know about Dentures

Patients who have lost all of their teeth, or those who need to have their teeth extracted for health reasons, will need a full set of dentures. Unlike dental appliances from years ago, which were often ill-fitting and uncomfortable for the patient to wear, modern-day dentures are technologically advanced dental appliances that perform in much the same way as a set of natural teeth.

Dr. Baines provides two types of dentures for his patients:

• Cоnvеntіоnаl full dеnturеs: Conventional dentures are given to a patient whose gum tissue has completely healed after all teeth have been removed. Allowing the gum tissue to heal before fitting the patient with a new set of dentures is the practice that has been commonly performed by dentists for many years. The only disadvantage that comes with conventional dentures is that the patient has to live without teeth for a period of time while the gums heal.
• Immediate full dentures: Immediate dentures earned their name because they are placed into the patient’s mouth immediately after the dentist extracts the patient’s teeth. There is an obvious benefit of immediate dentures in that the patient doesn’t have to live without teeth for a period of time. The downside is that your dentist will have to reline immediate dentures a few months later as the bone tissue changes shape somewhat after it heals, which can change the way the dentures fit in your mouth.

Today’s dentures and partials are very durable. They normally last for many years, although they will need to be adjusted periodically.