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How to enjoy life with dentures: a guide to tooth replacement
Dentures are one of the most popular ways for a dentist to replace missing teeth. They may be full, which means they are used to replace all the natural teeth in one jaw, or partial, which means they replace one or more natural teeth.
Modern dentures are a world away from early versions, which could be made from such bizarre materials as animal teeth. This might seem ridiculous in this day and age, but tooth replacement has been around for many centuries. Thankfully, it has gone through numerous evolutions, and 21st Century dentures are very realistic in terms of both action and appearance.
Imperial Dental Care in Harrow offers a number of denture solutions. Today’s dentures are made from hard-wearing materials such as metal, acrylic, and plastic. They are made by clinical dental technicians, who will work hard to create new teeth for you that look very much like the real thing. They can even “age” the appearance of dentures to fit your face.
Your dentist and clinical dental technician will ensure that your denture fits snugly over your gums, although if you have it fitted immediately after tooth loss you may have to have it adjusted at a later stage because of changes to your jaw bone.
One increasingly popular way to avoid this is to use dental implants to stabilise your denture. This involves placing a series of titanium replacement tooth roots in your jaw bone, then attaching your denture on top.
Traditional dentures are removed for cleaning. With implant-retained dentures, you can choose to have them removable or fixed in place. Permanently retained dentures should be brushed and clean in a similar way to natural teeth. Removable dentures should be cleaned over a sink or bowl of water, or a folded to towel, to make sure they aren’t damaged if they slip out of your hands during cleaning.
Regardless of which option you choose, your hygienist will help you to develop efficient cleaning strategies. Special denture brushes are available from high street chemists, along with denture cleaning solutions/tablets.