Types of Dentures
There are multiple different types of dentures aside from how we have classified them. Here is some information to help you along the way.
Let's talk about 'Complete Dentures':
Complete Dentures:
A complete denture (also called a full denture) is a dental prosthetic that is used to replace all of the teeth on one jaw. If all teeth are missing in the mouth, then two complete dentures are prescribed (upper and lower).
What happens to a partial denture when the remaining teeth are extracted?
Typically, if one or two teeth are pulled, we can add new denture teeth to a partial, depending on the situation in the mouth. However, if all the remaining teeth are extracted on the jaw that has a partial denture, it’s usually advised that a new complete denture is made.
What materials are used to construct complete dentures?
Complete dentures are typically made from denture acrylic.
On rare occasions, metal palate or metal strengtheners are inserted into the denture, however almost all complete dentures are made out of denture acrylic.
Complete dentures, especially the lower complete denture, may also have permanent soft liners placed inside them. This liner doesn’t help the fit of the denture, but does provide a softer material for those that have lost a lot of bone to support the denture. The liner acts as a bumper, softening the impact of any denture movement.
How do complete upper dentures fit?
The complete upper denture sits on the palate and uses the saliva to create a suction seal around the hard palate tissue. Most denture wearers are able to wear complete upper dentures without needing any additional adhesive.
How do complete lower dentures fit?
One of the toughest treatments in all of dentistry is the complete lower denture. Once teeth are pulled from the lower jaw, the bone that supports the complete lower denture shrinks away at a fairly quick pace and the muscles surrounding the bone like the cheeks and tongue prevent the denture from getting the suction fit like a complete upper denture.
What is the best treatment option if I need complete lower dentures?
There are many advertised techniques that promise suction fit dentures, or wings that seat below the tongue to help the complete lower denture stay in place. However, the ideal treatment for complete lower dentures is to have the denture anchored by at least two dental implants.
What are 'Flexible Dentures'?
Newer, flexible vinyl materials have been recently developed to address the concern of having metal clasps showing in the mouth. Having a flexible denture means that rather than the denture having metal wires, a flexible part of the denture clasps around remaining teeth. This is done by using a pink or clear flexible denture base material and avoids having to use any metal in the denture.
What are flexible dentures made from?
Acrylic resins have been used in the construction of almost every dentures for the past 70+ years. The ease of manipulation of acrylic, its smooth, polished surface, along with its relatively strong composition have made acrylic denture resin an easy choice for every dentist and dental lab.
Will there be any metal showing if I have a flexible denture?
However, because of acrylic’s inflexible state, for patients who are missing some, but not all of their teeth, wires need to be attached to the acrylic to clasp on to the remaining teeth. These metal clasps proved to help partial acrylic dentures stay in place but bothered a lot of patients because of how visible they could be if the clasped teeth are prominent when smiling.
Newer flexible vinyl materials have been developed and address this concern. The flexible denture base means that the denture itself can clasp around remaining teeth using a pink or clear material, avoiding the need for metal clasps.
What are the different types of flexible dentures?
There are two types of flexible denture materials.
One is a pink flexible denture base. This means that the entire denture is flexible (except for the actual teeth). Rather than having clasps, this denture hooks under the root of teeth, keeping the denture in place.
The second type of flexible denture is one where the regular, pink denture acrylic is used to support the denture and clear, flexible clasps are used instead of the usual metal cast, or wrought wire clasps.
What are the advantages of flexible denture base dentures?
The most common material for this denture is called Valplast®. The advantage of having a flexible denture base is that it can avoid clasping teeth that aren’t strong, instead staying in place by grasping on to the bulbous areas around the roots.
What are the advantages of having clear flexible clasps on a denture?
The primary advantage is esthetics, or appearance. Using clear clasps means that there won’t be any metal wires visible in the mouth.
What are the disadvantages of flexible dentures?
The main disadvantage to flexible dentures is that they can’t really be tightened. Versus the wire clasps that have been used for partial dentures over centuries, flexible dentures are created to fit in the mouth and can’t be tightened or loosened to individual preferences like the metal clasps can. Flexible dentures bases are also thicker (2mm) than the cast metal denture bases (1mm) due to their decreased overall strength.
What are 'Partial Dentures'?
A partial denture is a dental prosthetic that is used to replace some, but not all of the teeth on one jaw. If all teeth are missing on one jaw, then the prescribed denture is a complete, or full denture.
What are the different types of partial dentures?
There are generally three types of partial dentures: cast partials, acrylic partials, and flexible partials. Cast partials and acrylic partials have clasps that can be adjusted where flexible partials’ clasps generally can’t be tightened or loosened.
What are cast metal partial dentures?
Cast metal partials are the time-tested most reliable type of partial. They get their name from the cast, metal frame that sits within the pink denture acrylic.
Pros and cons of cast parital dentures
The advantage of this type of denture is that the metal frame is created as a casting using a replica model of the mouth. This means that the metal hugs every contour of the mouth and helps ensure that the final denture will fit as closely as possible to the oral anatomy.
Cast partial dentures also consist of “rests” that sit on the top of a few of the remaining natural teeth. These rests prevent the denture from moving up and down when chewing. This is important because the part of the denture that replaces the missing teeth with denture teeth, sits on soft gum tissue and this part of the denture will push into the soft gum when chewing if a rest isn’t present to prevent this movement.
Cast partial dentures are also lighter and less bulky in the mouth because of the strength of the metal frame. The metal frame however, does come with an additional $200 lab fee because it’s not made in our own lab.
Are cast metal partials safe?
The metal used to make the casting, or metal part of partials is mostly chrome and cobalt and it’s very rare that anyone has any sort of allergic reaction to these metals. Many patients also ask whether having metal in their mouth will directly cause health problems. The chrome/cobalt metals that we use in cast partials don’t carry the same toxic reputation and controversy that mercury amalgam fillings do. However, there are alternative options for partial dentures for those who prefer not have metal in their mouth, such as flexibile partials, or acrylic partial dentures.
What are acrylic partial dentures?
Acrylic partial dentures are similar in design to complete dentures whereby the missing teeth are replaced by denture teeth which are supported by a 2 mm thick denture base. These dentures are held in place by wire that is bent around some of the remaining natural teeth.
Pros and cons of acrylic partial dentures
Acrylic partial dentures generally don’t fit as well as cast partials because they are considerably thicker and don’t have a rest on top of the natural teeth to prevent them from sinking into the gums. Sometimes, acrylic partial dentures can cause more harm than good because the continuous up and down movement of the denture can push away the gum around a natural tooth, increasing the chances that it will need to be extracted.
What are flexible partial dentures?
Flexible partial dentures are somewhat new to the denture scene compared to cast and acrylic partials. There are two types of flexible partials that we use at The Denture Centre. The first is a vinyl material that is used in place of the pink denture acrylic.
Why choose flexible partial dentures?
The vinyl is flexible and allows us to make the partial without any metal clasps. Many people don’t like the idea of seeing metal clasps on their own teeth when they smile so vinyl, flexible dentures avoid this issue.
Pros and cons of flexible partial dentures
The vinyl material is thicker than the casting and is bulkier in the mouth. The vinyl clasps that sit just below the natural teeth cannot be tightened or loosened like they can in cast and acrylic dentures. The second type of flexible denture consists of a clear flexible cast frame instead of the metal one in a cast partial.
The advantage is that the clasps of the clear casting are much more esthetically pleasing than the metal wires. Both the vinyl and flexible castings carry additional $200 lab fees because they aren’t manufactured in our own lab.
What materials are used to construct cast partial dentures?
The casting material is chrome and cobalt. We exclusively use Vitallium® 2000 because of its extraordinary strength, fracture resistance, and lighter weight.
What type of partial denture is best?
In general, cast partial dentures are the time tested, most reliable type of partial denture. They are usually the best choice because of the fact that we can bend the clasps that hook on to the remaining natural teeth, making the denture tighter or looser. Cast partials also fit better and are lighter in weight than acrylic partial dentures.
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