Today, we have more and better dental options for false teeth. We have come a long way from the time an elderly loved one used wooden teeth. Not just the elderly, but even young boxers and hockey players may use dentures as well.

The kind of dental option, or denture, to use will depend on our individual circumstances. We will discuss three common options: complete dentures, partial dentures, and dental implants.

Full dentures

We use full dentures when all our teeth are missing on the upper or lower arches– or both. There are two kinds: complete and immediate. According to WebMD:

Made after the teeth have been removed and the gum tissue has begun to heal, a conventional denture is ready for placement in the mouth about eight to 12 weeks after the teeth have been removed.
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Unlike conventional dentures, immediate dentures are made in advance and can be positioned as soon as the teeth are removed.

Some of us use complete dentures after we give our gums time to heal. For those of us in a hurry, we can ask for immediate dentures instead.

Partial dentures

For those of us who have a missing tooth or two, we use partial dentures. As WebMD describes partial dentures:

A removable partial denture or bridge usually consists of replacement teeth attached to a pink or gum-colored plastic base, which is connected by metal framework that holds the denture in place in the mouth.

Partial dentures are either fixed or removable. Some use fixed partial dentures to keep adjacent teeth from moving into spaces left by former ones. Others use removable dentures to take them off and let the gums rest at night.

Dental implants

We can use dental implants as a more permanent solution to dentures. Based again on WebMD:

Yes, dental implants can be used to support permanently cemented bridges, eliminating the need for a denture. The cost is usually greater, but the implants and bridges more closely resemble the feel of real teeth.

Especially mini dental implants, they are painless after the dentist places them in. We will not need denture repair services if we opt for dental implants.

Which dental option to use is up to each of us. However, we can ask professionals like Dr. Kent Davis to help decide on which dental option to choose.

(Article Excerpt and Image from Dental Health and Dentures, WebMD, Reviewed May 07, 2012)