Complete and Partial Dentures: Easy & Affordable Smile Restoration
Edentulism, also known as tooth loss, is more common than you may believe. In fact, partial or complete tooth loss affects over 178 million Americans. Lost teeth need to be replaced to restore your oral health, your self-confidence, and your ability to smile. If you’re looking for an option that’s more affordable and accessible than traditional dental implants, Dr. Loiseau of Legacy Dental offers complete and partial dentures and implant-supported dentures.
What Are Dentures?
Dentures are prosthetic teeth designed to replace missing teeth and look like your natural smile. While they’re usually made of plastics such as acrylic resin, they can also be made of metal, nylon, and porcelain. Legacy Dental offers three kinds of dentures:
Complete Dentures
Complete dentures are complete rows of prosthetic teeth designed to replace an entire arch of missing teeth. Complete dentures are usually recommended for patients who are missing most or all of the teeth in both or either arches. Any remaining teeth in the arch will need to be extracted before you can be fitted for complete dentures. Your complete dentures will use natural suction to remain in place and can be further stabilized with adhesives.
Partial Dentures
Partial dentures are a less invasive method of smile restoration. Just like complete dentures, partial dentures are prosthetic teeth designed to replace missing teeth and look like your natural smile. However, partial dentures come equipped with metal hooks that latch onto your remaining teeth, often called ‘abutment teeth’ for support.
Since they rely on your remaining teeth or support, wearing partial dentures doesn’t require you to undergo tooth extraction first. Partial dentures can also help prevent your remaining natural teeth from drifting towards the empty spaces left by your missing teeth, a phenomenon called mesial drift.
Implant Supported Dentures
For patients who want dentures or who already enjoy dentures and want added support, Dr. Loiseau can permanently install your dentures with implants. Implant-supported dentures are complete and partial dentures which are supported by titanium posts just like dental implants. Implant-supported dentures make use of a minimal amount of implants, allowing you to enjoy the health benefits, security, and stability of implants with less time spent in the dentist’s chair.
Benefits of Complete, Partial, and Implant-Supported Dentures
Complete and partial dentures, as well as their implant-supported offshoots, offer many benefits to help restore your smile.
Affordability – Whether you opt for non-implant or implant-supported, complete and partial dentures are often more affordable than attempting to replace every missing tooth with a singular implant, especially when you’re dealing with complete or almost complete tooth loss.
Simple Use and Easy Maintenance – Both implant-supported and non-implant complete and partial dentures are easy to use and easy to care for.
Improved Bite – Complete and partial dentures restore some of your bite force and implant-supported complete and partial dentures bring your bite back almost entirely. An improved bite will aid in nutritional absorption, help prevent choking and diabetes, and improve your digestion.
Improved Speech – Complete and partial dentures help prevent lisps and speaking impairments caused by tooth loss.
Smile With Confidence – Whichever type of dentures you opt for, your smile will be fully restored.
What To Expect From Complete and Partial Dentures
Initial Consultation
Before you can be approved for smile restoration with complete or partial dentures, you’ll undergo an initial consultation with Dr. Loiseau. Your Moses Lake dentist will thoroughly examine your mouth, review your medical history, and ask you about your smile goals. Your dentist will also inform you of all of your restorative options, so you can make an informed decision that best suits your unique oral health needs.
Designing Your Dentures
If you and Dr. Loiseau both agree to go forward with dentures, we’ll take images and impressions of your mouth and remaining teeth. These images and impressions will be sent to an off-site lab where they’ll serve as the blueprints for your complete or partial dentures.
Preparation
If you’re receiving complete dentures or any form of implant-supported denture, you’ll require preparation in the form of tooth extraction and/or surgery to place your implants. We’ll apply a local anesthetic and make sure it’s working before extraction or implant placement occurs. If you’re feeling nervous about your procedure, don’t worry. We can offer sedation dentistry to keep you calm and comfortable.
Immediate and Conventional Dentures
Depending on your case, Dr. Loiseau may have you wear immediate dentures until your permanent complete dentures are ready. As the name implies, immediate dentures are worn immediately after any extractions or implant placement to keep you from going toothless and protect your gums. However, they won’t accommodate the changes your jaw will undergo after extraction or implant placement the way custom-made, more permanent conventional dentures will.
Installing and Wearing Your Dentures
Once you return to our Moses Lake office, Dr. Louiseau will show you your new dentures to make sure they’re to your liking. If you like your new dentures, your dentist will show you how to insert them. If you’re getting implant-supported dentures, then your dentist will attach your restorations to the implants and if they’re removable, show you how to attach and detach them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Complete dentures tend to last an average of five to ten years, while partial dentures tend to last an average of 15 years. With implant-supported dentures, the implants themselves can last 25 years to a lifetime. However, the longevity of your dentures will require proper maintenance and keeping up with your dental exams at Legacy Dental.
The cost of your complete or partial dentures will vary based on multiple factors. This includes whether or not you opt for implant-supported, whether you need complete or partial dentures, and your insurance. Dr. Loiseau and the team at Legacy Dental encourage you to call your provider beforehand and ask them which costs they can cover.
- Rinse, brush, and floss any remaining teeth before putting your dentures in.
- Clean your dentures every day with a toothbrush and denture toothpaste.
- Soak your dentures overnight in water or a specially made cleaning solution.
- Rinse your dentures thoroughly before putting them back in your mouth.
- Schedule an appointment with Dr. Loiseau at Legacy Dental as soon as possible if your dentures start to feel loose or make your mouth feel sore.
- Avoid using bleach, harsh bristles, or hot water to clean your dentures as these can weaken and destroy them.
- If your dentures are implant-supported and fixed in place, be sure to continue brushing and flossing as you would with your natural teeth.
Unless your dentures are implant-supported, you shouldn’t wear them while you sleep. Failing to remove your dentures while you sleep can result in bad breath and denture stomatitis, also known as oral thrush. Thrush is a condition where your gums become swollen, yeast-infected, and inflamed due to overexposure to bacteria that grows between your gums and dentures and a lack of saliva exposure. Additionally, if your implant-supported dentures can be removed for easy cleaning, you should remove them to clean them regularly as well.
Complete And Partial Dentures Can Help You Smile Better
With complete and partial dentures, Dr. Loiseau can offer all of his patients a more convenient, affordable way to replace missing teeth and restore their smiles. Dr. Loiseau is proud to offer his award-winning services and denture solutions to patients near our location as well as surrounding areas such as Ephrata, Mitchell, and Winchester, WA.
If you’re dealing with tooth loss and you’re interested in complete, partial, and implant-supported dentures as a possible solution contact Legacy Dental at our Moses Lake office by dialing (509) 765-1748. You can also fill out the form on the upper right-hand side of the page or click the button at the bottom of the page and a friendly team member will get back to you shortly.