Dentures & Partials – Denton, TX

Effects of Missing Teeth

There are plenty of circumstances where you may end up losing teeth, such as tooth decay that has gone untreated for too long, an advanced form of gum disease, and facial injury. Some cases of tooth loss are more extensive than others, but regardless of how many teeth are missing, you’re likely to find that an incomplete smile can affect your life in a variety of ways. As just a few examples:

• You might not be able to enjoy all of your favorite foods anymore due to having increased difficulty chewing.
• Your ability to speak clearly may be compromised.
• You may start to feel self-conscious due to the very noticeable gap in your smile.

Instead of forcing yourself to live with the consequences of missing teeth, you should get in touch with our dental team so that we can give you our recommendation for filling in the empty space in your mouth.

What Qualifies You for Dentures?

The good news is that plenty of adults with missing teeth qualify for dentures. They could be the right choice for you as well if you meet the following criteria:

• You have lost many of your teeth or all of the teeth in your upper or lower jaw.
• Your gums are in good health overall.
• Your jawbone is strong enough to support dentures.
• You are willing and able to commit to practicing good oral hygiene after receiving your dentures.

In addition to figuring out whether dentures are a good fit for you, we will also need to determine which type of denture is the best choice for your situation. You can either get partial dentures or full dentures depending on the number of teeth that need to be replaced; additionally, you may be able to have your dentures attached to dental implants so that they don’t slip at awkward moments.

Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options

Even if you’re unable to get dentures, you may still benefit from other tooth-replacement methods:

• Dental Bridges: When only one or a few teeth are missing, the gap can be filled with bridge that uses two of your natural teeth to stay anchored in place.
• Dental Implants: Dental implants offer many unique benefits due to their ability to mimic the roots of your natural teeth. We can refer our patients to a local specialist to have dental implants placed.

Psychological Benefits?

Mentally speaking, people often struggle to cope with tooth loss. After all, going without a full smile can make you feel anxious and insecure. From there, it’s quite easy to withdraw from your community and experience sadness or depression.

Given these realities, dentures are a valuable booster to your mental health. Since they give you a whole new grin, they improve patients’ confidence and body image. Consequently, you’ll feel more at ease regarding looks, speech, and chewing ability in social situations.

Clearer Enunciation

As you’ve likely experienced, missing teeth means having a rough time with speech. Your lips and tongue need pearly whites to position themselves well. Without them, some words are difficult or nearly impossible to pronounce correctly.

Thankfully, the artificial teeth in dentures act as tooth substitutes. In other words, they help to position your tongue and lips. All you need to do is briefly adjust and get used to their presence. Once you’ve practiced enough, the prosthetics will let you speak as clearly as ever before.

Improves Nutrition

Of course, it isn’t just speaking; loss of teeth also makes eating rough. Fewer chompers mean a weaker bite force, making food hard to chew. Many healthy items have tough textures, too – veggies and fruits, steak, etc. If chewing them gets so bothersome that you stop eating such things, you’ll likely suffer malnutrition or indigestion.

That said, dentures give you new teeth that allow for better chewing. They thus expand your potential diet to include a wide range of healthy foods. If you take advantage of that fact, you’ll see your physical health improve alongside your nutrition.

Preserves Oral Health

Left unchecked, lacking teeth will harm your oral health. The resulting smile gaps, for instance, will provide harmful bacteria with ideal breeding grounds. Furthermore, they’ll tilt your surviving teeth until the latter ones also fall out.

Of course, dentures keep these issues at bay by “filling in” your smile. Without smile gaps, the harmful bacteria will have fewer places to thrive. Similarly, the restoration will prevent your natural teeth from tilting and keep them straight and narrow.

Expands Opportunities

When it comes to first impressions, your smile is crucial. Studies show that people pay more attention to it than anything else in an initial meeting. As such, you’ll want your grin to look healthy and full, so you’ll have a better time with friends, family, and coworkers.

Naturally, dentures’ restorative effects expand many of your social opportunities. The prosthetics give you a whole smile to flash, prompting peers to think and feel better about you. Down the line, those improved sentiments could lead to amazing friendships, romance, and job prospects.

Can I Sleep with My Dentures?

Dentists usually recommend that you take out your dentures before you go to bed. When you first get your dentures, you’ll typically be told to keep them in your mouth for 24 hours, including when you sleep. After this, you should be taking them out every evening. Wearing dentures restricts the circulation in your gums, leading to soft tissue irritation and potentially speeding up ridge resorption. When you take them out, this will give the gums a chance to recover and get the nutrients they need at night. The dark space underneath dentures is also an ideal place for bacteria to thrive. Because of this, sleeping with dentures has been found to be associated with a higher risk of pneumonia.

Will It Hurt to Get Dentures?

If you have to have teeth extracted before you get your dentures, you are likely to experience some discomfort after the oral surgery. Be sure that you take all prescribed and over-the-counter pain medication as directed. The discomfort should improve in about 3 to 5 days. When you first receive your new dentures, you may encounter some minor irritation as your mouth adjusts to the appliance. The amount of time that the discomfort lasts varies from person to person. If you switch to a new set of dentures, the adjustment process may take longer than before. If pain persists, give us a call. This way, we can see if there are any underlying issues and come up with a solution.

Is It Hard to Talk with Dentures?

When you first get your dentures, it will take some time to get used to speaking with them. The exact amount of time it takes to adjust varies from person to person, but the more you practice, the quicker the process will go. You may find that you have a lisp with the dentures at first due to the changes in your palate, but once you learn to correct this, the lisp will go away. To practice speaking, read out loud to yourself and repeat the words that you find difficult to pronounce. Try to speak slowly at first, as fast speech can come out muffled. Ultimately, with a bit of practice, speaking will come naturally!

Will Dentures Change the Shape of My Face?

When you lose teeth, your facial muscles will eventually begin to sag. This can give your face a sunken appearance. Dentures will provide support to the facial muscles that have collapsed and ultimately improve your appearance. However, ill-fitting dentures might not give your facial muscles the proper support, so it’s important that each restoration is designed to fit perfectly in your mouth. If you notice that your denture isn’t fitting properly, you should have it either resized or replaced.