“Nothing you wear is more important than your smile” - Connie Stevens
“Her smile, I’m sure, burnt Rome to the ground” - Mark.Z.Danielewski
There are thousands of quotes that reflect the power of a smile. Many famous personalities have quoted the importance of smile in our lives. Smile is important in making a great first impression.
Your teeth play an important role in your smile. In this situation, how about you lose a tooth/teeth? It will be devastating, right? If it’s the front teeth, you might be worried about your smile and looks; it affects your confidence and personality. If it’s the back teeth, you might be worried about eating your favourite food. Teeth help us to chew the food, talk clearly and also give the face its shape. It’s important to replace the missing teeth for better function and aesthetics. There are several options for this including removable and fixed dentures.Here we are discussing the options to replace the missing teeth while some natural teeth are still present.
Removable dentures
As the name suggests, these are removable types. There are two types of removable dentures, acrylic and metallic. In these, the artificial teeth are arranged on a plate so that it can be kept on the missing area.The plate will be made of acrylic in one type. These are inexpensive and non invasive. Disadvantages are chance for breakage, can be unstable/unretentive with time, fitting not as tight as fixed ones. In the other option, the plate will be made of metal whereby there will be increased strength and better retention. But aesthetics would be a disadvantage in this type.
Fixed dentures
Conventional bridge
Two natural teeth on both sides of the gap are trimmed around so that it can accommodate a cap on top. Artificial teeth for missing ones are attached to these caps and are fixed in the mouth. These are called bridges since there is a support for the artificial teeth on both sides like pillars of the bridge.As the name suggests, these are fixed types so that stability and retention won’t be a problem. It shows good aesthetics and has a long life span. But these are invasive since it needs trimming of adjacent natural teeth and are expensive as well. Artificial teeth can be made of tooth colored material and metal. Caps with tooth colored material will be costly when compared to the ones with metal.
Implants
These are the trendiest teeth in dentistry. These are artificial metal tooth roots that are inserted into the jaw bone to replace missing natural teeth. Then the implants will be attached to a crown that resembles the tooth.They have good aesthetics and are strong as well. It resembles natural teeth since there is the artificial tooth root instead of natural tooth root. The procedure is time consuming since it needs multiple appointments in most of the cases and is done in selected cases, is expensive and needs maintenance.
The information given here is general in nature. Treatment options will be selected only after evaluating patient’s general and dental health by the dental professional.