Dentures

ACRYLIC DENTURES

In case several or all teeth are missing, a partial or full acrylic denture can be made.

Nowadays, partial acrylic dentures are only recommended as a temporary solution and in cases when permanent prosthetic replacements cannot be installed for certain reasons. When wearing dentures, the chewing forces are not ideally dispersed, which can have a negative effect on other teeth and the jaw bones, i.e. it leads to further bone resorption.

METAL DENTURES

Metal dentures are partial dentures with an alloy base. They are fixed onto the remaining teeth with special invisible binding materials that evenly distribute the forces within the oral cavity.

They are used in cases when a patient is missing several teeth but does not want implants. Metal dentures can also be placed onto a toothless jaw, but in that case implants have to be placed.

The advantages of metal dentures over acrylic ones is the durability provided by the metal frame. It is also much more comfortable for patients to have metal dentures because the surface area of the denture located on the palate and the floor of the mouth can be significantly decreased.

The disadvantage of having metal dentures is having to take them out after every meal to maintain hygiene in addition to the visibility of the metal frame on a patient’s palate.

DENTURE ANCHORING ELEMENTS (ANCHORS, LOCATORS, BARS)

Anchors or locators and bars are elements that can be fixed onto teeth or implants in order to better stabilise dentures. In case of great resorption of the maxilla or mandible, a denture cannot be fixed regularly (under vacuum) so anchoring elements are used.