What should my friend know about getting permanent dentures?

Question

My friend has been saving his $$$ for while now and is pretty excited about getting all of his teeth pulled in a favor of some permanent dentures. He's been plagued by bad teeth for years and fears opening his mouth in public, so its understandable that he's looking forward to it. I'm just wondering if anyone could share any info about the prodecure, pros, cons etc...that I could tell him about so he feels prepared.

thanks

Answer 1

Implants will cost him about $4000 and, although he will not have a bottom denture that moves while eating (as most dentures do) he will have to maintain them, laboriously (removing and cleaning the spring clips etc).

For a starter your friend my well just get excellent dentures with teeth that perfectly resemble live teeth.

The best advice was given me by the staff at the Canadian Dental College which was :

Have your denturist make impressions of your EXISTING teeth, yes the ones that are coming out. This will help him replicate the exact angle, size, amount of protrusion etc etc.

Choose teeth that have the ridges and valleys that live teeth have. A top of the line set of such dentures cost about $1600 from most certified denturists but some charge up to $2500 for the same thing.

When you shop around, ask the denturist to show you some pictures of his patients who have had dentures made for them.

You do not state if you are from U.S. or Canada.

Sadly, if you are an American you can only get your dentures from a dentist, who, although he is a surgeon, is NOT as well trained in PROSTHETICS as a Denturist who spends ALL his time making false teeth. A dentist is a busy oral physician and spends most of his time with "dental care". Many do not have the time it takes to assess and fabricate dentures. Furthermore a dentist seldom if ever goes into his lab and makes the dentures. He usually just takes impressions and sends these out to a LAB which NEVER sees the patient.

A denturist, however, SEES the patient every step of the way. Even as he fits the dentures, he may often have to step into his lab and make small adjustments in order to achieve a perfect fit.

Answer 2

Absolutely, go for it. These days there are some amazing options for tooth replacement out there like implants, but at the end of the day, you can only work with what you can afford!! I am a student dentist, and I recommend dentures to every patient who needs even one little tooth replaced. It is usually towards the end of the "preferred treatment" list but that isn't to say it isn't a good option for some people! A gappy smile can have massive effects on self esteem and quality of life eg. speech, difficulty chewing, social situations. And if it is available for you to get a denture, who cares that you are 22!! No one has to know except you and your dentist, and whoever you choose to tell. Ask the person who makes the denture for you to make it as discreet as possible. However if you have very few teeth it might be hard eg. you might see some little metal clips on some front teeth. Most people won't even notice if you lips cover them. They will probably affect your appearance to a slight degree, eg your lips may appear fuller. And yes they do take some time to adjust to, it will feel like there is something in your mouth, your taste might decrease if they are upper dentures, and you can lisp for a while. But in the long run, I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, particularly cos you already seem to be feeling the psychosocial effects of losing teeth. :) hang in there & good luck

Answer 3

is he wanting the denture implants,or just regular dentures? my sister has dentures she has only the regular kind. but i did see how they did the dental implants. oh man it looks painful! the up side is theyll always be there, but im sure they can get infected also. with the regualr dentures you can take off you can be in control of when you wear them . you wont get an infection. my sister had all of her teeth removed then they waited 2 to 3 months for the gums to heal,before they made the dentures. some places like to remove your teeth and have you in dentures by the end of the day. her dentist told her that if she did that it would take longer for the gums to heal and she would have to make several trips to the dentist for adjustments to get the perfect fit. so she waited and the dentures were made , and its been oh about 6 yrs now and shes fine. if shes feeling sick, she could always take them out til she felt better.

Answer 4

I had all my teeth pulled out 8 years ago because I had a bone disease and after they pulled them DDS Asso. came up with a cure, but when they pulled my teeth they immediatlly put my dentures in and I had to keep them in for three days so that my gums would shrink to fit the dentures. It will be painful for about 1 week, after that I rinsed in salt water every 3 hours and used Benzodent to ease the gum pain until the gums shrunk to the dentures. If he is getting implants find out the reason to why he has to have his teeth pulled out anyway maybe there is a cure
because implants have their faults too. He'll be fine anyway. But remember to get the laughing gas because it will hurt.