Dangers of not wearing dentures

Good fitting and well-cared for dentures can be worn with confidence to enhance your appearance as you go on with your daily activities including eating and speaking normally. Although they can be removed by the wearer whenever they need to, not wearing your dentures can put you at risk of many of the problems associated with gaps in your mouth caused by missing teeth. These problems comprise both functional and aesthetic concerns that, if not solved by dentures, would likely affect all dimensions of your health – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

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Should I get dentures or not?

Yes. You should get dentures if you’re a good candidate for them, and they’re your preference among other tooth replacement options available to you.

There are several ways to replace missing teeth, including dental bridge, dental implant, and dentures. Your dentist will examine your case, discuss with you the options available for tooth replacement, and then advise you accordingly on the options available to you for replacing any missing or damaged teeth.

The pros and cons of dentures over other tooth replacement options are also discussed below.

Problems solved by getting dentures

People who have gaps in their smile may feel self-conscious about how they appear, but replacing a missing tooth should be considered for more reasons than just aesthetics. For instance, gaps between your teeth may disrupt speech or make it more difficult to chew specific foods. In addition, over time, healthy teeth that are adjacent to a gap may tilt into the space and become crooked, making them more challenging to clean and floss. Without teeth, your face and jaw will also lose some support, causing the muscles in your face to sag.

Here are some reasons to get dentures:

Improving your health

Dentures are removable appliance used to fill gaps in your mouth after losing natural teeth due to injury, tooth decay, or gum disease. Replacing missing teeth with dentures helps you to chew food easily and speak better than you could with gaps, and ultimately enhances your health.

Improving your appearance

Losing many or all your teeth causes facial muscles to sag, which makes you look older. Dentures are made to resemble your natural teeth, so they can be used to fill out the appearance of your face without changing your profile much. They can even restore or improve your smile.

Preventing drifting teeth and change of bite

Gaps can lead to damage in the rest of the dental structures, causing teeth to shift their position and open up spaces between existing teeth, as teeth drift towards the empty space, which can in turn affect your bite and lead to orthodontic issues. Dentures can help to avoid such awkward spaces that trap food and are hard to clean.

Stopping a tooth pain

Severe tooth pain is often caused by advanced decay that has reached the nerves in the centre of the tooth. In minor cases, it can be treated with a simple filling. But when the decay has progressed too much, your dentist may recommend tooth extraction. Following removal of the tooth, a partial denture may be necessary to restore function and aesthetics.

Benefits of dentures over implants

If you have lost all your teeth, or are about to lose them due to tobacco use or some other kind of tooth damage, then you are a candidate for dentures. Dentures are removable appliances that replace your missing natural teeth and help restore your appearance and help with eating and talking. Dentures can also be used after extractions for people with badly decayed teeth, advanced periodontal disease, or some other infection that cannot be fixed.

Here are some benefits of dentures over other tooth replacement treatments:

Dentures are more cost effective compared to implants.
Dentures can be placed immediately after tooth removal, or within a few days for custom-made dentures

Dentures can restore your smile while the surgical wound for the implant heals, so you won’t have to stay toothless during this period
Dentures allow for a non-invasive, non-surgical tooth replacement treatment

Disadvantages of metal dentures

Metal dentures are liked for their strength and smaller, thinner construction that makes them comfortable to wear and easier to adapt to. Compared to acrylic dentures, metal dentures also offer a better fit and retention, which significantly enhances the talking and chewing experience. Unlike plastic dentures that only rely on gums for support, metal dentures have rest seats (attachments) that can be used to enhance the grip through additional tooth-support.

But they are not without fault. The main cons of metal dentures include:

Higher cost compared to plastic (acrylic) dentures
Rigid design – limitations on adjustments once they are fabricated

Inability to adjust the fit following changes to the structure of your mouth
Cannot be repaired if accidentally bent or altered. They can only be remade.

Though mental dentures are not perfect, they may deliver more comfort for people who have problems with their bulky or loose-feeling acrylic dentures.

Disadvantages of partial dentures

Traditional detachable partial dentures are usually secured with clasps that wrap around healthy teeth known as “abutment teeth” in order to fill in a gap with one or more missing teeth. The clasps can be constructed of metal, often as part of a metal structure that runs the entire length of the piece, or of resin material that is less noticeable.

While partial dentures can help to improve your smile when you have missing teeth, there are a few shortcomings that you have to overcome:

It takes some time to get used to having a partial tooth replacement, which might affect your eating habits

There is a risk of increased accumulation of plaque around the abutment teeth, and subsequent tooth decay and/or periodontitis
Partials need extra care as they must be removed and cleaned every night using the right tools
The partial might exert some pressure on the abutment teeth and cause trauma to surrounding gums due to constantly removing and wearing them

Partials don’t prevent loss of underlying bone tissue at the sites of missing teeth

You can achieve even distribution of biting pressures, prevent damage to your gums and natural teeth, and maintain the most natural-looking appearance and function, by getting a partial that fits perfectly.