Dentures – Fort Mill, SC

Effects of Missing Teeth

It’s important to know what can cause someone to lose their teeth as well as the consequences of not replacing them in time. Some of the most common reasons involve gum disease, tooth decay, physical injury, and poor oral hygiene habits. Certain systemic conditions can also play a role in losing teeth over time.

Those who’ve lost their pearly whites know all too well the disadvantages of their smile. Not only will you feel less confident about your appearance, but you’ll also experience difficulties with various daily tasks, such as eating, talking, and smiling. Without tooth roots, your jawbone will also begin to deteriorate due to a lack of stimulation, resulting in problems like dental shifting, gum recession, and facial sagging.

What Qualifies You for Dentures?

As mentioned before, most people who are missing any number of teeth can be eligible for dentures. With this versatile method, we can personalize your prosthetics to fit perfectly with the rest of your smile for many years. However, you’ll need to have sufficient jawbone density and healthy gums before undergoing the treatment.

When it comes to the type of denture you’ll receive, we’ll need to consider the number of teeth that require replacements. Our options include full dentures, partial dentures, and even implant dentures. These custom prosthetics also come with a lower initial price, making them popular for patients working with a budget.

Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options

If dentures aren’t on the table for you, it doesn’t mean you’ll be all out of options. Our team offers other solutions for restoring your bite, such as:

• Dental Bridges : If you’re missing one or just a few teeth in a row, then dental bridges are a perfect option. As long as you have healthy adjacent teeth, we can support your prosthetic on them to keep them stable.
• Dental Implants : For superiority stability, we can embed titanium posts into your jawbone to directly anchor your restoration(s) to your facial structure. This process requires sufficient bone density and involves minor surgery. However, the results can easily last decades to a lifetime with proper maintenance.

Learn More About Dental Bridges

Learn More About Dental Implants

What Are Dentures Made Of?

Two components make up a denture – the base and the artificial teeth. Here is a brief overview of each:

• Denture Base: Commonly made out of acrylic, a denture base can also be crafted from resin, nylon, porcelain, or metal. Its purpose is to support the artificial teeth that are attached to create a new and natural-looking smile. By using acrylic, the material can be color-matched so that it looks just like normal gum tissue.
• Artificial Teeth: Attached to the base of your denture, these teeth are most commonly crafted out of resin or porcelain because of how they can mimic the look of natural tooth enamel. Porcelain tends to be more popular, though, as it even feels like enamel, and it’s highly durable.

The Denture Creation Process

Creating a set of dentures requires time and patience. Lab technicians spend years learning how to properly complete this process, so to ensure that your new set of teeth fit properly and look completely natural, you must accept the time it can take to produce them.

As a multi-step process, our team will begin by taking an impression of your upper and lower gums. This will help in the creation of a plaster mold that will replicate your mouth. We will also measure your jaw for a proper fit.

Once it is sent to a dental laboratory, they will create a wax mold of your gumline before placing artificial teeth onto the base with a mechanical articulator. The technician will carve away any excess wax and shape it to look like your gums.

The next step is for the lab to send us the wax dentures so that we can perform a fitting. If you and our team approve of the dentures, we will send them back to the lab so they can be completed. During this time, you’ll wear temporary dentures so that your mouth can adjust to the new objects inside your mouth.

A lab technician will then boil the dentures to remove wax areas before placing the teeth in a flask and filling it with plaster. This will hold the shape of the dentures before the flask is placed in hot water to melt the dentures.

They will create holes in the teeth so that the new material will attach, and a liquid separate is added to keep the acrylic from sticking. Lab technicians will then inject acrylic into the flask to replace the wax. After removing all the plaster, the acrylic dentures are given an ultrasonic bath to make sure all remaining plaster is gone.

They’ll remove excess acrylic before giving your new teeth a final polish. The last step is to send them back to our office so that a final fitting is achieved. If adjustments are required, we can make them at this time.

Adjusting to Your New Dentures

Minimal discomfort is normal after receiving your dentures. Some mild soreness is normal, especially as you learn to eat and speak with your new teeth. This is why you’ll need to be patient so that your gums, tongue, bone, and remaining oral structures become more familiar with your new teeth. You can hurry up the adjustment phase by eating soft foods, trying a denture adhesive, practicing mouth exercises, and speaking slowly to avoid slurring your words.