Partial and Complete Dentures: Which Has the Most Benefits?

Tooth loss is an uncomfortable oral health condition for most patients. At AZ Healthy Smiles, we recognize that missing one or more teeth can affect your oral function. But, more importantly, these spaces may take away your complete smile. A single tooth gap can cause the remaining teeth to shift, bone loss, or gum degradation, thus affecting your smile appearance. To avoid this, visit our dentist near you for extensive care.

For persons missing teeth, we use customized dentures to restore their smiles. We can recommend partials and dentures in Phoenix, AZ, as tooth replacement solutions depending on your situation. This way, you can avoid any inconveniences caused by tooth loss. Contact our dental clinic to book your consultation.

Partial Dentures

Partial dentures are used by dental experts to replace one or a few missing teeth; and they can be permanent or removable. If you have two or perhaps more remaining healthy teeth, partial dentures are suitable for you. Dental crowns and metal frames hold permanent partial dentures in place.

Partial dentures are made of resin bases attached to artificial teeth, which are customized by the dental laboratory based on the impression of your oral structure. Temporary partial dentures, also called flippers, replace teeth immediately after extraction. Most people prefer flippers due to aesthetic reasons, and they don’t have to remain toothless. However, flippers are not very practical since they are supported by the gums, which causes irritation and thinning of mouth tissues.

Our removable partial dentures can be used to replace one or more missing teeth and use clasps to connect to healthy teeth as an anchor. These clasps are made of flesh-colored or tooth-colored resin material to blend with your smile. With traditional partial dentures, you will be able to eat normally and prevent further damage to your mouth.

Advantages of Partial Dentures

• Unlike other tooth replacement options, partial dentures are minimally invasive and affordable for dental restoration.
• Partial dentures can be adjusted to add extra missing teeth.
• Partial dentures are better for replacing missing teeth in the lower jaw than full dentures because they are easier to adapt.

Complete Dentures

These are removable dentures that replace all missing teeth on the lower or upper jaws. If you still have teeth, your dentist usually removes any remaining upper or lower teeth to replace them with full dentures. Then, after the gums have healed, the patient can wear permanent dentures. At the same time, you may require immediate dentures right after extraction.

If you need dentures to replace all the teeth, an impression of the upper gum, lower gum, or both is first made. Before making the dentures, your dentist will also study the bite alignment of both jaws to ensure that the length of the dentures will allow optimal chewing and speaking.

A preliminary set of dentures is made in the laboratory and sent to the dentist. The dentures will be placed in your mouth, and any necessary adjustments of the teeth will be made before the final denture set is made. Dentures look like natural teeth and gums and are professionally fixed using a special adhesive that bonds them to the gums.

Advantages of Dentures

• Better speech

If you don’t have teeth in your mouth, pronunciation is difficult. Dentures may improve the clarity of speech. However, after dentures, there will be an adaptation period.

• Long-lasting

With good care, your dentures can last a long time. For example, brushing teeth and flossing between meals will help your full dentures last 5 to 10 years.

• You can eat what you prefer

Missing teeth requires you to pay attention to what you eat, and in some cases, you may even avoid certain foods. When your teeth are not functioning properly, it is difficult to eat hard food that requires a lot of chewing.

Caring for Dentures

• Please don’t wear them overnight. During this period, they should be soaked in water or a special cleaning solution.
• After eating, you should remove and brush the dentures, and you need to brush off any remaining adhesive on your gums.
• Because the bite changes over time, you will need to reinstall your dentures from time to time.

At our dental clinic, providing reliable care to patients is our key goal. Visit us for consultation or schedule an appointment to get your customized dentures.