Dentures are custom-made dental prosthetics that replace one or more missing teeth to aid in chewing function, speech, and to look as natural as possible. Full dentures and partial dentures are two of the best tooth replacement options available in dentistry.
We strive to create your dentures to be as cosmetically appealing as possible, giving you a more youthful and attractive smile!
At some point in our lives many of us lose our teeth due to a wide range of reasons. Some of us may lose our teeth as a result of rampant dental decay or severe gum disease. Others may lose their teeth as a result of systemic diseases like diabetes. There can even be tooth loss due to an automobile accident, a fall, the list is endless.
As a dentist in Indianapolis, our goal is to ensure that your issue of tooth loss is addressed at your visit, and the very best tooth replacement solutions are presented to help you restore natural chewing function and redeem your smile. To provide the best dentures in Indianapolis our office is outfitted with the latest technology.
We customize our dentures for every patient, utilizing some of the most durable and aesthetically pleasing materials available in dentistry. We go the extra mile to give you the smile that you have always wanted.
Chew Better
One of the major drawbacks of missing teeth is that chewing and eating food becomes much more difficult. One of the steps for proper food digestion is being able to break it down into a more digestible size. People have to rely on a soft diet, as harder foods cannot be broken down properly in the absence of teeth. With dentures, one can chew and digest food much more properly, and he or she will be able to better enjoy meals.
Look Better
Our teeth play a major role in making us look attractive in our daily lives. Loss of teeth can make a person look more aged, as missing teeth are generally associated with the aging process. Apart from that, the sagging of cheeks and lips becomes prominent due to the lack of support by missing teeth. All these problems can be greatly reduced with dentures. Having a nice set of teeth, whether natural or artificial, can dramatically enhance your appearance.
Correction of Bite Pattern
Even the loss of a single tooth can bring about potentially damaging changes in your mouth. When we lose our teeth, our bite pattern is bound to change. The jaws tend to adjust to achieve maximum biting forces with our remaining teeth, adding additional stresses in places that aren’t supported. Apart from that, the adjacent teeth tend to move and fill in the space created by the lost teeth, known as drifting. Teeth that have moved can be more difficult to keep clean, possibly creating periodontal issues. When you get dentures or partials, rest assured that your biting pattern and teeth spacing will remain in tact.
Prevention of TMJ Problems
Our temporomandibular joint gets affected negatively if there is an alteration from the normal biting or chewing pattern. This is because this joint is the one that takes the maximum brunt of the biting activity in our mouth. Correction of biting pattern through tooth replacement is mandatory for TMJ to be in a good and healthy state.
Correction of Speech
Have you ever had a chat with a person who has no teeth? If so, you may have noticed that the lack of teeth inhibits proper speech and/or creates a lisp. To make certain sounds for words, your tongue needs to come in contact with teeth at a certain spot. One of the most important functions of our teeth is to facilitate phonetics. When you lose teeth, the ability to communicate through speech also gets hampered. Dentures help people to regain normal speech.
Essentially, there are two types of dentures available – complete dentures and partial dentures, both of which can come in a variety of styles, materials, implant supported, etc.
Depending on your particular situation, we offer a wide variety of dentures to our patients. This is because we respect the individuality of every single patient who comes to us seeking help.
Complete dentures are an artificial, full set of teeth that snugly rest on the toothless ridge of your mouth. They aid in chewing function, restore aesthetics to your smile, and inhibit facial collapse which is a byproduct of having no teeth for many years.
So, if you have lost all your teeth on your top and/or bottom arch, then complete dentures are a great tooth replacement solution.
Complete dentures can also be implant anchored to better support and stabilize the appliance in the mouth. We have found that outside of a full mouth reconstruction with dental implants, an implant supported denture is one of the best options available.
Partial dentures are custom tailored to replace only a certain number of missing teeth, as opposed to all of them on a single arch. For instance, if you have lost two top front teeth and a couple upper molars in the back, the appliance will be made with just those missing teeth set on the material you choose.
With partial dentures, there are a couple types of materials from which the base and the clasps can be made. The most durable and sturdy partials are generally made with metal and acrylic, however some find that flexible partials using a thermoplastic material have a better fit, feel, and aesthetics.
The name immediate suggests the nature and timing of the placement of the denture. Immediately after the tooth/teeth are extracted, a denture is delivered, and the healing of the jaws takes place under this denture itself. This immediate delivery is performed in situations where the patient doesn’t want to walk out of the office after the procedure without teeth.
Also, as an FYI, an immediate denture will more likely require the denture(s) to be relined at a later date for proper fit. As the gums heal, gum shrinkage will occur causing the denture to not fit as well as it once did.
Implant supported dentures are full or partial dentures secured to the jaw by use of surgically placed implants that fuse to the jaw bone. These implants act as synthetic roots that fasten securely into the denture for greater stability.
They do not fall down or pop off while speaking and stay secure in place effortlessly. In terms of overall comfort that provides optimal function, implant supported dentures are the top choice.