Several months ago I wrote an article about natural looking dentures.  It isn’t unusual for someone to dislike the look of their denture, because a natural looking, quality denture involves a lot of time and attention to detail.  Since then I’ve had other questions posed to me about false teeth so I thought I would address those in some articles over the next few weeks.
First off, did you know approximately 20 million Americans wear dentures and that roughly 1/3 of Americans over the age of 65 are missing all of their teeth.  Another 1/3 of Americans over the age of 65 have less than half their natural teeth remaining.  Unfortunately, at least half of all denture wearers have problems.
 
 

Common Problems for Denture Wearers

Poor Fit
Loose or improper fitting dentures can cause excessive friction between the soft tissues and the dentures, resulting in sore spots that may become infected.  This occurs because of excessive, uneven or unbalanced contact between your soft tissues and your dentures.  When a tooth is removed, 40% of the supporting bone will dissolve away within the first two years.  A major portion of the shrinkage occurs in the first three to four months after the tooth is removed.  When all of the teeth are removed, the bone will continue to shrink and dissolve over time.  It isn’t “if” it will shrink, it’s “how fast” it will shrink.  Because of this shrinkage, a denture will no longer fit after a period of time and looseness or sore spots can develop.  This is one of the major reasons dentist avoid removing teeth on younger people – they have a lot of years for the bone to disappear.  Try getting a well-fitting, stable denture on a ridge of bone that looks like a table top!  Another bad thing about an ill-fitting denture is that it causes the bone to shrink faster - a well-fitting denture is crucial.  In the vast majority of patients, a denture needs to be relined to fit the current shape of the bone at least every three years.

Poor Chewing Ability 
A denture that doesn't fit or teeth that don't function effectively can make it difficult to chew food properly. As a result, many nutritious and harder-to-chew foods may be eliminated from the diet. In these cases, digestion and overall good health are affected.  As was mentioned above, a reline can often help by improving the fit of the denture and therefore increase the ability to chew, yet in many instances, the teeth of an existing denture are worn flat.  The surface is so smooth from wear it’s like trying to chew between to flat pieces of glass.  Needless to say, efficient chewing isn’t possible and a soft, squishy typically unhealthy diet is what results. 

Unnatural Aesthetics
A denture should look like real teeth.  If a denture is done well, even a dentist can have a hard time determining if a person has “false teeth”.  Unfortunately, in more cases than not you can pick out a denture from across the room.  Inexpensive "Chicklet" teeth that are all the same color can be a tell-tale sign that a person is wearing a denture. Other signs are flat teeth, "picket fence" teeth, too much gum, too much teeth or not enough teeth showing.  The only way to solve this concern is with a natural looking, high-quality denture.  As I have said before, not all dentures are made the same.

Next week I will go into some other concerns and solutions for denture wearers.  As always, if you have any questions e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Have a great week.