Should You Consider Dentures?

 

Dentures may seem somewhat old-fashioned and out of style, but don’t let that fool you. Dentures are still a highly effective method of resolving tooth loss. Statistics Canada’s most recent report on edentulous Canadians — people who have no natural teeth — shows that 22.3 percent of men between 60 and 79, and 21.1 percent of women between 60 and 79 have no natural teeth. Every one of those adults is living lifestyle restrictions and potential health problems. If you’re one of them, a dentist in Longmont can help.

Why not to settle for a life with missing teeth

Avoiding eating foods like meat, vegetables, and fruit because they’re hard-to-chew without teeth means you’re missing out on essential nutrients. Living on easy-to-chew carbohydrates alone is unhealthy. Or, if you’re still eating those hard-to-chew foods, but just not chewing them, you are running the risk of stomach and digestive problems. Getting dentures in Longmont may be a solution.

Someone with missing teeth often smiles less or hides their smile behind their hands because they’re embarrassed. That’s bad enough, but teeth are important for reasons beyond vanity. Your facial muscles may gradually lose definition and shape due to the lack of teeth in your jaw.

Teeth are involved in the pronunciation of words — like the word “teeth,” for example. Consulting with a dentist near you will help to confirm whether getting dentures near you can help solve that problem. If you value your ability to speak persuasively and credibly, dentures can help.

How can dentures help with those problems?

Dentures have been around in one form or another since 700BC. Until the 1700s, they were made of human or animal teeth, then with walrus, elephant or even hippopotamus ivory. Thankfully, progress has continued apace.

Modern dentures are made primarily of resin, acrylic, and porcelain. A dentist near you will follow a three-step process to craft dentures precisely for you.

Step 1: Your dentist in Longmont will take impressions of the ridges of your gums

Step 2: Measurements taken from those impressions will give the information needed to build a plastic resin base that will fit onto your jawline. That resin base will be coloured to look like natural gums.

Step 3: You and your dentist will select the size and shape for your new teeth made of porcelain. To do that, you may want to show your dentist photos of yourself with your original teeth. Once chosen, your teeth will be mounted on the base material.

Step 4:  Your mouth and jaw are constantly moving and changing parts of your living body. Dentures need to be fine-tuned to fit properly, bite and chew precisely and seem entirely natural. By the end of this four-step process, your dentist in Longmont will have set you up with a lasting solution for your tooth loss.

What’s the downside?

Dentures do not bond to your jawbone. One of the serious consequences of tooth loss can be gradual and progressive loss of bone tissue in your jaw. As this happens, you may notice a looser fit, decreased functionality, and some discomfort.

Dental implants can be a permanently effective response to bone loss since they bond to your jaw through a process called osseointegration. Since dentures float on your gums, they don’t have that opportunity to bond.

New techniques that your dentist in Longmont will be familiar with can help with this problem. Your dentist can place small implants along your jaw that will connect securely to fittings in the resin base of your dentures. Your gums will be freed of the pressure of the dentures, and the bond between those titanium implants and your jaw bone may stimulate new bone growth.

Are you ready to take the first step toward a solution for your tooth loss? Contact a dentist near you to find out how dentures can brighten your smile and change your life.