Dentures
What is a Denture?
When a patient has had all his or her teeth removed the dentist could replace them with a removable prosthesis, also called a Denture.
A denture is made of acrylic teeth and an upper denture stays in the mouth with “suction.” If the impression is done well, the upper denture stays in the mouth without adhesive or “glue.” A denture is the most common way of replacing all missing teeth in an arch. The other methods are to place implants and do bridges on the implants, or do a hybrid denture (which would be a denture secured onto implants). Also, a denture could fit onto implants with a snap-on mechanism.
What is a partial Denture?
In a situation when a patient is missing a few teeth but still has several healthy natural teeth the dentist could make a denture to replace only the missing teeth in an arch. That would be called a partial denture. A partial denture stays in place using a metal framework and clasps that go on remaining natural teeth. If a patient wants to not show clasps in the smile, Dr. Heydari could place an implant or two and have the partial denture snap onto the implants.
What is a hybrid denture?
A hybrid denture is a full or a partial denture that is secured permanently to the implants. The patient would not be able to remove them out of the mouth and they stay in permanently. They can only be removed by the dentist.
A hybrid denture is the closest thing to natural dentition before the teeth were removed and does not cover the palate.