Dentures – Jersey City, NJ

Who’s a Good Candidate for Dentures?

Nearly anyone can get dentures, whether you’re missing a few teeth or many. These restorations don’t have strict requirements to meet. Having said that, you should consult our dentists before treatment. They can confirm whether your smile qualifies for dentures. Our team can also help even if you don’t qualify. In that case, we may suggest some preliminary dental work. We could also show you our office’s other restorations. If you want to learn more, please keep reading or call us soon.

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Effects of Missing Teeth

When considering dentures, you should review tooth loss’ causes and effects. This step reinforces how treatment can aid your smile.

In general, tooth loss causes tend to be wide-ranging. One person’s teeth may fall out due to severe decay. Meanwhile, a different figure could have gum disease that deprives a tooth of support. There’s also the chance that someone has an accident or injury that knocks out their teeth.

Whatever its causes, the effects of tooth loss are quite severe. The most notable one is how missing teeth makes everyday life harder. This condition also creates smile gaps that slowly erode your jaw. If left unchecked, the erosion process could result in facial collapse. Worse yet, it can tilt your remaining teeth until they fall out.

What Qualifies You for Dentures?

Patients only need to suffer tooth loss to qualify for dentures. These devices don’t have other big conditions on their use. However, it’s still useful to keep certain facts in mind.

The first one is that oral health affects how and whether dentures work. If your gums and jaw are too weak, they won’t be able to support the restorations; dentures wouldn’t benefit you in that case. Luckily, minor oral issues are a different story. Dentures can easily replace any sensitive or decayed teeth you may have.

You should also note how many teeth you need to replace. Depending on the final number, we’ll recommend one of two possible dentures. The first kind is a partial model that only replaces a few teeth. In contrast, the second is a full denture that replaces all teeth along an arch.

Finances play a role in whether you get dentures as well. As it turns out, these restorations are the least pricey tooth replacements. They especially suit patients who need an inexpensive option.

Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options

If you don’t qualify for dentures, you don’t need to worry about it. Our practice has two other treatments that can restore your smile. If you’d like, we’ll gladly share them with you. They are:

• Dental Bridges – A dental bridge is a fixed restoration made of two crowns fused to a pontic (i.e., an artificial tooth). By securing itself to certain nearby teeth (i.e., abutments), it can fill large smile gaps and stay fairly secure. Still, placing it requires that we remove some enamel from the abutments.
• Dental Implants – Dental implants are small titanium      posts that act as your tooth roots. Once placed in your jaw, they slowly      fuse with surrounding bone tissue and become permanent. They’re also capped with porcelain, so they’ll also blend seamlessly with your smile. However, dental implants can be costly; their unique traits raise prices.

 

Learn More About Dental Bridges

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How Dentures are Made

If you’re considering dentures, you may want to know how they’re made. That’s only fair – grasping what went into your new teeth can help you value them. However, facts on the denture creation process aren’t always easy to come by. We at AV Dental Associates understand, so below is a summary of how dental labs make dentures. Please read it to learn how these restorations come to be, or call our office for the details.

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What are Dentures Made Of?

While a single device, a denture – no matter the type – has multiple parts. These components are the base and the artificial teeth, which act together to form the appliance. Consider their features as described:

• Denture Base – The foundation that supports a denture’s artificial teeth. It’s usually made of acrylic, reason, nylon, or metal, depending on the situation. Acrylic material is often used for full denture bases, while it and nylon are included in partial dentures.
• Artificial Teeth – The tooth-replacing portions of a denture, often crafted from enamel-colored resin or porcelain. Porcelain tends to be the more popular material due to its realistic looks.

The Denture Creation Process

Rather than take a generic approach, dentists customize each denture for a unique patient’s mouth and bite. They thus follow a strict and multi-step process to make one. These measures include:

• Step 1: Our dentists will take a dental impression of your mouth. From there, they’ll make a plaster model that matches your future denture’s size and shape.
• Step 2: We’ll send the plaster model to a lab, whose workers will use it to create a wax gumline.
• Step 3: After making the wax gumline, lab workers will set artificial teeth in it. This step leads to a prototype denture used to make the final one.
• Step 4: Our office will receive the prototype denture and see if it fits you. After testing, we’ll then send it back to the dental lab that crafts the restorations.
• Step 5: After boiling the denture to remove its wax, a worker will place it in a flask. This flask will receive plaster and sit in hot water.
• Step 6: A separator will go into the plaster layer, keeping the acrylic from sticking. This latter material will be injected into the flask to replace the wax.
• Step 7: The lab worker will remove all plaster to reveal the denture. Later, they’ll place the restoration in a bath to remove residue.
• Step 8: The worker will cut off the denture’s excess acrylic, followed by briefly polishing it.
• Step 9: You will have your final denture fitted. At that time, the dentist will adjust it to work smoothly.

Adjusting to Your New Dentures

It’s common for the mouth to ache a bit when you first use dentures. Initially, the new teeth may even feel sore and cause struggles with eating or speaking. That said, these restorations should be more familiar to you over time; they’ll soon feel like your other teeth.

Of course, it’s possible to speed up the adjustment process. You could exercise your facial muscles to strengthen them, eat soft foods to avoid pain, etc. Through these options, you’d make great use of your dentures even sooner. Still, you’d need to take some time, no matter what.

Please call our office if your aches persist or worsen. In those scenarios, your dentures may need adjusting.

Types of Dentures

During your consultation with our team, we will carefully examine your mouth before we make a recommendation about which type of denture we believe would best fit your needs. Depending on the circumstances, we might determine that you are an ideal candidate for one of the following:

Partial Dentures

Partial dentures fit in like a puzzle piece, working around the natural teeth so you can keep as much of your existing smile as possible. They are typically made out of acrylic, and they may have acrylic or metal clasps to help them remain secure in your mouth.

Full Dentures

As their name implies, full dentures replace an entire arch of missing teeth. They are usually held in place via natural suction, sometimes with the help of adhesive. Their custom fit helps them to stay secure and comfortable during use. In most cases, their base is made out of acrylic while the teeth are constructed out of acrylic or porcelain.

Implant Dentures

Implant dentures are held in place via prosthetic tooth roots, called dental implants, which get inserted into the jawbone during a minimally invasive surgery. This is the most sturdy and reliable form of denture. It also has the longest life expectancy. However, its price can be significantly higher than that of a conventional denture.

Benefits of Dentures

Dentures offer a number of outstanding benefits that make them a top option for patients missing several or all of their teeth along an arch. In addition to being custom-crafted to look lifelike, they can improve several parts of your life, ranging from your professional and personal relationships to your mental health and wellness. Read more about the variety of benefits you can enjoy with dentures below.

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Psychological Benefits

Studies show that about 58 percent of people that experienced tooth loss had difficulties accepting it. As a result, the participants reported that they restricted their social activities due to functional limitations. They also found that people with missing teeth were more likely to experience emotional consequences, like sadness, anxiety, and depression. When you invest in dentures, especially implant dentures, you may find that your emotional wellbeing improves drastically as a result of having a full and functional smile once again.

Better Enunciation

At first, you may notice that speaking with your dentures can cause clicking sounds. However, this is a natural part of the adjustment period and a common challenge that can be easily overcome by practicing speaking and reading aloud to yourself. Once your facial muscles build up and your dentures are more stable, you will likely find that you’re able to speak with greater ease.

Improved Nutrition

After going through your adjustment period, you may find that you’re able to eat a greater variety of foods after getting dentures, like chewy proteins. However, it’s important to have realistic expectations and understand that even with well-fitting dentures, you may need to steer clear of foods that are excessively sticky, chewy, and hard.

As a result of being able to eat more foods, you’ll be providing your body with much-needed nutrients that you may not have been able to easily get with gaps in your smile.

Preservation of Oral Health

Tooth loss has been shown to impact oral health in addition to overall quality of life. When you leave gaps in your smile, you can experience shifting of your other teeth, bacteria and food debris accumulation, and an increased risk of gum disease and bone and tissue loss. By replacing your missing teeth and restoring your smile, you can help minimize your risk of developing additional dental concerns, including worsening tooth loss.

Boosted Confidence

One of the greatest benefits of dentures in Jersey City is the fact that you’ll be able to let yourself unabashedly smile once more. Whether you find yourself in a career-defining job interview, on an important first date, or just out with friends and family, you deserve to let your smile shine. With dentures, whether they’re full, partial, or implant dentures, you can do that with pride.