Dentures – Boca Raton, FL

Effects of Missing Teeth

According to the American College of Prosthodontists and other resources, gum disease is the number one leading cause of tooth loss. If bacteria in your mouth penetrate and infect your connective tissues, they eventually recede from your enamel in an attempt to escape the disease. This leaves your roots exposed, and your teeth can become destabilized or dislodged altogether. However, severe tooth decay and physical trauma can also lead to missing teeth.

Once this happens, your jaw begins to thin without roots in place to stimulate new bone growth every time you bite down. This can lead to additional tooth loss and sunken cheeks, in addition to challenges eating, speaking, or smiling confidently.

What Qualifies You for Dentures?

Before you can be fitted with dentures, you must consult Dr. Lamberti to ensure it’s the best treatment for your circumstances. This might be the right solution if you have:

• Experienced significant tooth loss in one or both arches.
• Tooth sensitivity, especially when biting into something too hot or cold.
• Severe tooth decay hindering your smile’s functionality.
• Sufficiently healthy gums.
• Adequately dense jawbone and bony ridges in your mouth.

Once we’ve examined your condition, we can determine the best type of restoration to meet your needs. Whether you require full dentures, a partial set, or need implants to anchor them, our team can provide customized prosthetics to rebuild your grin.

Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options

If we find that you’re not a good candidate for dentures, don’t lose hope! There are other ways to replace your missing teeth, such as:

• Dental bridges. These oral appliances are ideal for those missing one to four consecutive teeth in a row. They are customized to match your smile and include a dental crown on each side that anchors to abutment teeth or implants on each side of the gap in your grin.
• Dental implants. These are the only replacement teeth that involve surgically placing the required number of titanium rods into your jawbone to support your restoration. They can replace a single tooth with a dental crown, support a bridge, or anchor a complete set of dentures.

<Learn More About Dental Bridges>

<Learn More About Dental Implants>

<Learn More About Implant-Retained Dentures>

What are Dentures Made Of?

Before diving into the step-by-step process of creating your restoration, it’s important to understand more about the materials it’s made from. There are two main components, outlined in more detail below:

• Denture base. This is the foundation that gives your prosthetic its shape and support. It can be created from various substances, like resin, nylon, porcelain, or metal, but most are made of gum-colored acrylic designed to look like your own connective tissues.
• Artificial teeth (pontics). These are typically built out of resilient resin or porcelain because both materials reflect light like enamel and can be customized to be the right shade, shape, and size for seamless results.

The Denture Creation Process

Your restoration is made to be one-of-a-kind and is built using your measurements, scans, and images for a perfect fit. It can take a few weeks for the dental lab to create it from start to finish because careful attention to detail is required. Continue reading below for more information about each step involved in the process.

• Step 1. Lamberti will make impressions of your upper and lower gums and any remaining teeth by having you bite into a tray full of a putty-like material that hardens around them to create a mold of your mouth. Some dentists use more advanced technology to create 3D digital impressions, instead.
• Step 2. Your information, including images and impressions of your mouth, are sent to a special dental laboratory that begins creating your dentures by establishing a wax gum line on an accurately rendered cast.
• Step 3. Next, color-matched pontics are set in place using a mechanical device called an articulator. Then the technician carves and shapes the wax so they look as realistic as possible.
• Step 4. This early version is sent to your provider for a fitting. If everything checks out and fits correctly when you try them on, they’ll be sent back to the lab to be completed.
• Step 5. The technician places your new teeth in a flask, which is filled with plaster to retain their shape. This container is then placed in hot water to melt the wax portions away.
• Step 6. Small holes are drilled into the pontics so they’ll attach correctly, and a liquid separator is added to the plaster so it doesn’t cling to the surface of your dentures. Then, acrylic is injected to fill the space where the wax used to be.
• Step 7. The plaster is carefully removed with special instruments and your dentures are placed in an ultrasonic bath to ensure they’re completely clean.
• Step 8. Excess material is trimmed away from your restoration and the teeth are polished to a shine.
• Step 9. The finished product is returned to our office so we can show you how to insert, remove, and care for them before sending you home with your newly rebuilt smile!

Adjusting to Your New Dentures

It’s normal to experience an adjustment period until your lips, tongue, and other supporting muscles in your mouth accommodate to the presence of your dentures. It often takes a month before you’re fully acclimated, but then you can enjoy eating, speaking, and smiling more confidently.

If you’re struggling to keep your dentures in place, you can try sticking with soft foods for the first couple of weeks to avoid pushing them around with excessive chewing. You can also try using an adhesive, like a cream, that forms a layer of cushion over your gums and strengthens the bond so they’re less likely to slip out of place. If you experience ongoing discomfort or challenges wearing your dentures, contact our office so we can ensure they fit as intended.

Psychological Benefits

Did you know that people with dental problems are more likely to develop anxiety and depression? You might even remain tight-lipped or avoid spending time with others if you’re overly worried about being judged for the spaces in your smile.

Your dentures are customized to look and feel like your natural teeth, enhancing your appearance and improving your abilities to boost your self-confidence. You’ll feel confident engaging socially without worrying about feeling awkward or embarrassed due to changes in your dental condition.

Clearer Enunciation

Gaps in your grin can cause changes in your speech patterns, such as slurring or lisping, that make it harder to communicate effectively. Your teeth play a crucial role in your ability to enunciate, as you press your tongue against them in specific patterns to form different sounds. When they fall out, you might feel easily misunderstood.

It can take about a month for your tongue to adjust to your new dentures, but once you’re acclimated, you’ll be able to speak more naturally.

Improves Nutrition

Tooth loss can result in gastrointestinal issues if you swallow overly large pieces of food that can’t be easily digested, or malnutrition if you stick to softer, less wholesome foods that are easier to chew.

Dentures restore a good portion of your original bite force so that it’s easier to bite into and thoroughly chew more wholesome options that support your oral and overall well-being. For instance, you can eat more fruits and vegetables that contain essential nutrients, like vitamin C, which supports your connective tissues.

Preserves Oral Health

If you have natural teeth remaining, it’s imperative that you protect them so they don’t shift out of alignment. Dental drifting can prematurely wear down your enamel, increasing your susceptibility to tooth decay and other dental issues.

Thankfully, wearing dentures ensures that everything remains in its proper place, preventing potential problems. Plus, they bear the majority of the force of biting and chewing to shield your smile.

Expands Opportunities

One of the first things others notice about you is the quality of your grin, and if yours has gaps, you might not make a good impression. This can impact everything from your professional life to the quality of your relationships with others.

Restoring your smile with lifelike dentures can improve your confidence, resulting in enhanced professional opportunities, more meaningful connections, and an active social calendar.

Factors That Affect the Cost of Dentures

A few different factors can influence how much you end up paying for dentures. Some common variables include:

• Preparatory Work: You might need gum disease therapy or tooth extraction before you’re eligible for dentures. Any preparatory treatments will come at a separate price.
• Number of Missing Teeth: Do you need a partial denture that will fill in a few different gaps or a full denture that will replace the entire arch? The amount you pay depends on what kind of denture you get, so the number of teeth being replaced needs to be considered carefully.
• Materials: Some dentures are made of cheaper materials than others. However, cheaper restorations are often more likely to break, so it’s usually worth investing in higher-quality dentures instead.

Are Implant Dentures More Expensive?

Implant dentures require oral surgery and at least four different implant posts, all of which need to be paid for separately. In other words, yes, implant dentures tend to have a higher cost than traditional dentures. The higher price tag is well worth it when you remember that dental implants offer many benefits that you wouldn’t be able to enjoy with traditional dentures alone. Furthermore, dental implants can last for decades, meaning you won’t need to pay for replacements as often, if ever.

Does Dental Insurance Cover Dentures?

You’ll need to check with your insurance company to get a definite answer to that question. Most of the time, though, you can indeed expect your insurance plan to provide some level of coverage for dentures. The exact amount of coverage you’ll receive varies from plan to plan, but it’s normally in the neighborhood of 50%. If you don’t fully understand your dental benefits, one of our team members will gladly go over your policy with you.

Other Options for Making Dentures Affordable

Patients who don’t have dental insurance (or are struggling to pay for dental care even with insurance) can break up the cost of dentures by applying for a third-party dental financing plan. Our practice works with CareCredit and LendingClub, both of which offer a number of low-to-no-interest plans that can fit any budget. If you’d like to use third-party financing to help pay for your dentures, our team will be more than happy to help you explore the available options and go over the process of signing up.

Removable Dentures

Remove After Eating

When you finish your meals, it’s a good idea to remove your dentures and give them a good rinse. This will help eliminate leftover food particles and mitigate bacteria build-up.

Something you should know, though, is that heat can warp the shape of your dentures. Use lukewarm water when you clean them, and they’ll be just fine!

Clean Your Restoration

Rinsing is great, but it’s not quite enough to keep your dentures properly sanitized. Take them out once per day for a more thorough cleaning, using a soft-bristled toothbrush and hand-soap to scrub away bacteria and food particles. Alternatively, you can let them soak in a special denture cleaning solution.

Keep Your Dentures Safe

Accidents happen. While we can’t predict all of them, keeping your dentures away from curious pets and children when they’re not in your mouth is good common sense! Anytime they’re not in use, make sure they’re securely tucked away in a safe container.

Remove When You Sleep

Wearing your dentures 24/7 can actually prevent your gums from receiving circulation – and will contribute to bad breath! Removing them when you’re ready for bed gives your gums a good break and prevents bad odors from accumulating.

Notice Changes

The shape of your mouth will shift over time. That’s just how the body works. It’s important to notice changes in how your dentures fit, because these shifts can affect how they rest on your gums. If you notice you need denture adhesive more frequently, are developing sores, or experience other abnormalities, let us know! We’ll get your dentures relined so they fit good as new again.

All-on-4 Dentures

Since all-on-4 dentures are fixed in place with dental implants, caring for them is a bit different. You’ll still need to keep up with cleaning, but your routine should look more like this:

• Brushing twice daily
• Flossing once per day
• Using a sulcus brush to get between your restoration and your gums
• Rinsing your mouth once daily