Dentures – Ellicott City, MD

Effects of Missing Teeth

According to the American College of Prosthodontists, the most common reasons behind tooth loss are tooth decay, gum disease, and trauma. Tooth loss can lead to a variety of different consequences. Here are some examples:

• Facial Sagging: If you’re missing teeth, your facial muscles aren’t being supported. This can make your cheeks appear hollowed out and your lips may become wrinkled prematurely. Both of these things can make you appear older.
• Difficulty Speaking: Tooth loss can make it more difficult to express yourself clearly, therefore making it challenging for others to understand what you are saying.
• Trouble Eating: Not chewing your food thoroughly can lead to deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals. You may also suffer from indigestion.
• Lowers Self-Esteem: Gaps in your smile can make you feel less confident, which can affect your job and personal life.

What Qualifies You for Dentures?

If you have experienced significant tooth loss or your remaining teeth are in poor condition, dentures could be an ideal solution for replacing them. People who get dentures must be committed to maintaining an excellent dental hygiene routine and properly caring for their new smile.

Different types of dentures are available depending on how many teeth you’re missing. Traditional dentures are usually less expensive than alternative tooth replacement options, making them a good option for patients who are on a tighter budget.

Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options

People who have lost teeth may want to consider other options in addition to dentures, like:

• Dental Bridges: A dental bridge is a good option for patients who are missing one or two teeth next to each other. This is because a bridge requires surrounding teeth to be supported.
• Dental Implants: To support a replacement tooth, a titanium post is surgically inserted into the jawbone. A strong jawbone is required for this option. Dental implants are more costly than traditional dentures, but they are made to last a lot longer.

Learn More About Dental Bridges

Learn More About Dental Implants

Psychological Benefits

If you’ve lost any number of teeth, you’re more likely to want to hide your mouth whenever you talk or smile. This can end up lowering your confidence and ruining your quality of life, as you may be too self-conscious to enjoy or want to engage in social interactions. By getting dentures, you can regain your full smile and improve your psychological well-being in the process.

Clearer Enunciation

Speaking clearly can be quite challenging if you don’t have all of your teeth to work with. To pronounce certain words and sounds, we typically need to position our tongue and lips properly against our pearly whites. If you’re struggling with tooth loss and wish to renew your ability to talk confidently, then you’ll want to replace your missing teeth with dentures. It can take some time to get used to your new prosthetics, but a short adjustment period is much better than dealing with more complications further on.

Improves Nutrition

Did you know that some fruits, veggies, and lean proteins can be tougher in texture? If you don’t have all of your natural healthy teeth, it can become difficult to chew your meals effectively, which can lead to problems like malnutrition and indigestion. By getting dentures, you can renew your bite and expand your dietary choices for healthier food options. This will directly improve both your oral and overall health in the long run!

Preserves Oral Health

Even if you still have natural teeth after suffering from tooth loss, your remaining pearly whites can still be vulnerable. Since your jawbone is lacking stimulation from the previous tooth roots, the bone tissue can begin to deteriorate and weaken, allowing your other existing teeth to move out of place to fill the gaps. Dentures, however, can help prevent dental shifting as well as minimize the wear and tear of the rest of your smile.

Expands Opportunities

Since your smile is one of the main things people see of you when meeting them, having a healthy and beautiful one can be incredibly important for things like job interviews and even first dates. If you wish to make a great first impression, be sure to complete your grin with custom-made dentures. Once you’re more comfortable and confident about showing off your pearly whites, others will see the way you carry yourself and perceive you as more outgoing, competent, and attractive! This can help boost your personal and social life.

What are Dentures Made Of?

In essence, all dentures have two parts: the base and the artificial teeth. Each is crucial for the final appliance to work well. To see why that’s the case, consider their features below:

• Denture Base – The base supports a denture’s artificial teeth. Due to sitting on a patient’s gums, it’s colored pink to blend with its surroundings. Labs can typically make one from various materials, including acrylic, nylon, porcelain, resin, or metal.
• Artificial Teeth – As you’d expect, dentures’ artificial teeth are their tooth-replacing portions. Labs typically make them from resin or porcelain to ensure lifelike results. However, porcelain is the more popular option due to looking and feeling like natural teeth.

The Denture Creation Process

If you don’t already know, every denture is custom-made for a patient’s mouth. Making one thus requires a multi-step process. With that said, here’s a look at what those steps are:

• Step 1: The dentist takes an impression of your upper and lower gums. From there, the resulting model is sent to a lab to help create the dentures.
• Step 2: Once crafted, the lab sends the wax dentures to the dentist/prosthodontist for a fitting. Assuming patient and dentist approval, the restorations are returned to the lab for completion.
• Step 4: A technician boils the dentures to remove their wax portions. They then place the appliance in a flask to pour plaster. Subsequently, the flask is placed in hot water to melt the dentures.
• Step 5: The lab worker makes holes in the artificial teeth so new material can attach. A liquid separator is also added to the plaster layer to prevent the acrylic from sticking. The same acrylic is then injected into the flask to replace the wax.
• Step 6: The worker removes the plaster to reveal the prosthetics. Later, they place the dentures in an ultrasonic bath to remove leftover plaster.
• Step 7: After cutting away excess acrylic, the technical polishes the restorations
• Step 8: The patient returns to the office for fitting and final adjustments.

Adjusting to Your New Dentures

As you start wearing your new dentures, it’s normal to feel minor discomfort. You may even experience soreness or trouble with eating or speaking. Even so, you’ll adjust to the dentures with time; your new restorations will feel like natural teeth before you know it.

Still, you can speed up the adjustment if you’d like. For example, eating soft foods will reduce or avoid chewing-related soreness. Similarly, you could try strengthening your facial muscles or using dental adhesives.

Whatever your adjustment method, though, be cautious. You may need to visit our office if your denture aches persist. In that case, the appliance may need to be altered.

Factors That Affect the Cost of Dentures

Multiple considerations can influence the price of dentures in Ellicott City, including:

• Any work needed beforehand like tooth extractions or periodontal therapy
• The number of teeth you’re missing
• The type of acrylic used for the base (part that is dyed to match color of gum tissue)
• The materials your denture will be made of (usually porcelain or acrylic)

Is cost a priority? If so, you may be tempted to opt for cheaper dentures. Even though the upfront cost is certainly lower, they tend to break easily and require replacement much sooner than you’d expect. That’s why quality should always be of utmost importance, regardless of the cost. 

Are Implant Dentures More Expensive?

Yes, implant dentures are generally more expensive than traditional ones. However, there’s a good explanation for that. They require oral surgery and the placement of multiple dental implants, making them more reliable for everyday use since they do not shift out of place. Many patients discover this method of tooth replacement is well worth the investment because of several tremendous benefits.

Not only do implants stimulate the jawbone, but they can last decades or even a lifetime with proper care and maintenance with help from your denture dentist in Ellicott City. That means you won’t have to worry about replacing your dentures nearly as often!

Does Dental Insurance Cover Dentures?

Dentures are considered a major procedure which is why most dental insurance plans will cover approximately 50 percent of their cost. Certainly, every policy is unique, meaning the amount of coverage provided will vary from patient to patient. If you have any questions about your plan, contact your insurance provider or ask our dental team for assistance. We will gladly review the details of your policy and do everything possible to maximize your benefits and reduce out-of-pocket expenses.

Other Options for Making Dentures Affordable

We understand not everyone has dental insurance, which is why we offer other ways to make your dental bills much easier to manage. With CareCredit Financing, you can split up the total cost of your treatment into smaller, budget-friendly monthly installments. Options even come with little-to-no interest!

We also have a Dental Membership Club that, among an array of benefits, offers you a 15 percent discount on treatments like dentures. Ready to begin down the path to a beautiful, complete smile? Contact us today to schedule a consultation so we can answer any questions you might have.

Removable Dentures

Remove After Eating

Anytime you complete a meal, make sure to remove your dentures and give them a good cleaning. Food and bacteria can easily become trapped, and you do not want these remaining on your prosthetics or your gums. Instead, clean and rinse them off well before doing the same with your gums and mouth before reinserting your teeth.

Clean Your Restoration

The moment you wake up in the morning, you’ll want to retrieve your dentures from their nightly soak and rinse them off. After cleaning your mouth, you can reinsert them. Throughout the day, don’t negate cleaning your dentures after eating, and before going to bed, make sure to brush them with a denture-appropriate toothbrush. You do not want to use regular toothpaste, as it is too abrasive and will scratch the materials.

Keep Your Dentures Safe

Dentures can often be viewed as toys for children and pets, so it’s best to keep them out of reach when you’re not wearing them. Also, as you prepare to clean your teeth, make sure to keep a towel nearby and lay it in your sink. This will offer greater protection if you drop them during the cleaning process.

Remove Dentures When You Sleep

It might not seem like a big deal if you sleep with your dentures in, but the reality is that your mouth and facial structure need a break. Allowing your teeth to soak in denture cleanser makes it possible for your gums and bone to relax and achieve relief from constant daily pressure. It also helps to restore valuable nutrients to these areas, and your chances of developing pneumonia significantly decrease.

Notice Changes

Over time, your jawbone will shrink because of the lack of stimulation caused by tooth loss. When this happens, you will find that your denture no longer fits correctly. Instead of putting it off and waiting for pain and soreness to develop, get in to see a member of our team as soon as possible. We can reline or replace your denture so that it fits perfectly once again.

All-On-4

When choosing All-On-4 dentures, you’ll need to make sure that you’re properly cleaning your teeth after every meal. Brushing and flossing are essential if you want to minimize your risk of gum disease, which can be detrimental to dental implants. Use a floss threader or water irrigator to make sure you’re cleaning underneath the denture and removing any bacteria that may try to form in hard-to-reach areas.

Should I Have All My Teeth Pulled to Get Dentures?

Repairing a damaged tooth is always preferable to replacing it when possible. Tooth extractions of any kind will only ever be recommended if deemed absolutely necessary, like when a tooth is too damaged to save thanks to extensive decay, severe infection, or trauma that’s broken off most of the enamel. If all of the teeth in an arch are decayed or infected with gum disease, replacing them with dentures may be a viable option, but your dentist will always explore all of your options before recommending this.

Can I Sleep with My Dentures?

Dentists generally recommend that you take your dentures out at night when you go to bed. When you first get your dentures, you will typically be told to keep them in your mouth for 24 hours, including when you sleep. After that, you should be taking them out every evening. This is because wearing dentures restricts the circulation in your gums, therefore leading to soft tissue irritation and potentially speeding up ridge resorption. Taking dentures out gives the gums a chance to recover and get the nutrients they need during the night. Ultimately, it is better to take out your dentures while you catch some Z’s.

Will It Hurt to Get Dentures?

If you need to have teeth extracted before you can get dentures, you’re likely to experience some discomfort after the oral surgery. Take your prescribed pain relievers as directed. This discomfort should improve 3 to 5 days afterwards. When you first receive new dentures, some minor irritation may occur as your mouth adjusts to the new appliance. The amount of time this will take varies from person to person. If discomfort persists, give us a call so we can take a look.

Can You Still Eat Steak with Dentures?

Tough meats, like steak, are often difficult to chew with dentures, but it’s still possible to do so if you take all the right precautions. Pick out tenderloin and other beef cuts with less connective tissues and muscle fibers. Make sure the meat is thoroughly tenderized beforehand. Cut it into very small pieces to make them easier to manage.