What is a removable dental prosthesis?
Removable dental prostheses are dental appliances that can be easily removed by patients when they are not required. Better known as dentures, these removable prostheses are very common and are one of the most popular options for patients to replace missing teeth.
A removable dental prosthesis offers advantages because it does not require any surgical approach or recovery following their installation. Dentures are supported by the surrounding tissues of the oral cavity and can be removed by the patient when not immediately needed.
Removable dentures are usually recommended for patients who do not wish to undergo oral surgery to replace their missing teeth. They offer the advantage of improving chewing ability, maintaining muscle tone and contributing to better pronunciation and speech to a limited point. Finally, they also help patients boost their self-esteem by allowing them to enjoy complete, functional and aesthetic looking teeth.
Partial Dentures
Partial dentures are removable dental prostheses anchored to the patient’s remaining natural teeth. A prescription from a dentist or prosthodontist along with detailed measurements and prints are required for technicians to design them.
The replacement teeth are usually attached to a plastic base that is connected to a metal structure that holds the prosthesis in place once installed in the patient’s mouth. The prostheses are equipped with porcelain or acrylic teeth and a pink acrylic resin is used to give the appearance of natural gums. The artificial teeth of a complete prosthesis are meant to feel like a patient’s natural teeth.
Partial dentures are attached to adjacent teeth with hooks that provide stability for patients to go freely about their daily activities. The phonetics, aesthetic as well as the chewing ability will likely improve with removable partial dentures. They will also contribute to fill in the gap between missing teeth and help in preventing the remaining natural teeth from moving.
Full Dentures
On the other hand, complete dentures are used to replace all the teeth located either in the upper or the lower jaw and are usually made exclusively of resin. Complete dentures are always created according to the face, age and personal preferences of the patients.
The conventional full denture is a removable dental prosthesis that is inserted following the extraction of the teeth and the healing of the gums. The patient will not be allowed to use the prosthesis right away and has to wait until the healing process is completed.
Immediate complete dentures are installed immediately after tooth extraction and offer patients the opportunity to avoid waiting for the healing process to be over. However, healing of the gums and tissues could eventually lead to the loosening of the dental prosthesis and may require an adjustment after a certain period of time.
What is a crown?
A crown is a prosthesis that will restore the natural appearance of a tooth when it has been severely damaged as in the case of a cavity that caused a tooth to decay. Crowns can also be used to cover dental implants meant to replace missing teeth.
The crown is really a protective shell made of metal or ceramic that gives back to the tooth its integrity and further protects it from fractures. Over the past twenty years, technological progress has made it possible to produce metal-free ceramic crowns that now offer superior aesthetic appearance.