Dentures – Big Pine Key, FL

Effects of Missing Teeth

First, it’s important to understand why tooth loss occurs and what can happen if you fail to replace the gaps in your smile. According to the American College of Prosthodontists, some of the most common causes of missing teeth include gum disease, tooth decay, and physical injury.

No matter the cause of your missing teeth, you need to replace the gaps in your smile as soon as possible. Otherwise, your jawbone could begin to shrink due to a lack of stimulation of blood flow. This can cause the bone tissue to weaken, increasing the risk of further tooth loss. As such, you could experience complications like facial sagging, difficulty eating, trouble speaking, and lower self-confidence.

What Qualifies You for Dentures?

If you suffer from extensive tooth loss, have sensitive teeth, or a lot of decay, you are likely eligible to receive dentures. The prosthetics have helped countless patients eat, speak, and smile with greater confidence for centuries. During your consultation, our team will make sure you have sufficient healthy gum tissue and jawbone to ensure this treatment will be successful.

Don’t worry – there are ways to get your oral health up to par if you don’t initially qualify for dentures. We may recommend certain preliminary treatments before getting dentures. Our team will assess your situation to determine which type of denture fits your case best (i.e., full, partial, or implant). As long as you’re in good general health, you should be good to move forward with the process!

Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options

Not a good candidate for dentures? That’s okay! You can explore alternative tooth-replacement solutions to restore your smile. Some of our most popular options include:

• Dental Bridges: If you are missing one or more consecutive teeth, you can replace the gaps with a dental bridge. For successful treatment, you’ll need to have nearby healthy teeth on either side of the gap to support the bridge.
• Dental Implants: Thanks to their unique placement in the jawbone, dental implants can provide unmatched stability and durability. All you need to have is a strong facial structure and sufficient bone density! With proper care, you can expect to enjoy your results for a lifetime.

Learn More About Dental Bridges

Learn More About Dental Implants

What are Dentures Made Of?

Regardless of type, every denture has two essential parts: the base and the artificial teeth. Each of these elements is crucial to the appliance’s functions. As for why that’s true, consider them in detail below:

• Denture Base –  The base is a denture’s pink-colored section that sits on a patient’s gums. Put simply, its role is to support your prosthetic’s artificial teeth. A lab ensures it does so by making it from proper materials, ranging from acrylic and nylon to porcelain, resin, or metal.
• Artificial Teeth – Per their name, artificial teeth are a denture’s tooth-replacing portions. Labs typically make them from resin or porcelain to produce lifelike results. However, many patients see porcelain as the more popular material; it looks and feels like natural teeth.

The Denture Creation Process

Ultimately, every denture is custom-made; no two are exactly alike. That being the case, making each one requires a multi-step process. The relevant steps are as follows:

• Step 1: Your dentist performs an oral exam and takes a dental impression. Afterward, the latter is sent to an offsite lab that fabricates the dentures.
• Step 2: Following a brief crafting period, the dental lab will send wax dentures to your dentist for a fitting. If these are approved, the restorations will be sent back for completion.
• Step 4: A technician will boil the returned dentures to remove their wax portions. The appliance will then be placed in a flask, into which plaster will flow. This flask is later placed in hot water to melt the dentures.
• Step 5: Holes will be made in the artificial teeth, thus ensuring new material can attach. The technician will also add a liquid separator to the plaster layer. Acrylic will then be injected into the flask to replace the wax.
• Step 6: The lab worker will remove 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

You might feel slight discomfort once you start wearing dentures. Thankfully, this symptom is normal; it typically fades over time. Eventually, your mouth will adjust to the dentures until they feel like natural teeth.

All the same, you can speed up the adjustment if you’d like. You only need to adopt the right mouth-related habits. In particular, you could eat soft foods, exercise your facial muscles, or use denture adhesives. These things would help you adjust more smoothly and reduce potential aches.

However you choose to adjust, do be careful. There’s a chance you’ll need to see a dentist if your pain persists. In that case, you may even require replacement work.

Psychological Benefits

Your teeth are more than just tools; they’re a source of confidence! People without teeth tend to have difficulty accepting tooth loss; their self-esteem often takes a hit, navigating social situations becomes more difficult, and sadness and depression can often ensue. But patients who restore the appearance and functionality of their smile with dentures are likely to experience increased confidence and self-esteem; the anxiety associated with missing teeth will dissipate and you can resume social outings with confidence and relative ease!

Clearer Enunciation

It goes without saying that having missing teeth can make it more difficult to speak. Your lips and tongue rely on the position of your teeth to pronounce and perform certain words and sounds, so if you’re missing teeth, your dictation will correspondingly suffer. Since dentures act as your missing teeth, once you’ve made it through the initial adjustment period, speaking should come more naturally.

Improves Nutrition

There are various types of nutritious foods that are tough in texture; certain vegetables, fruits, and even healthy proteins can sometimes be difficult to thoroughly chew and swallow. When you can’t chew your food properly, you can experience issues like indigestion and malnutrition. But dentures radically improve your ability to chew, which allows for a more expansive diet that includes all sorts of healthy options. In this sense, dentures can optimize your overall health by assisting you with your diet!

Preserves Oral Health

If you still have some of your natural teeth, you should know that they’re at an even greater risk of falling out. Dental drift, or the undesirable shifting of teeth, becomes a real possibility if there are gaps in your smile. The remaining teeth will slowly shift toward the gaps and eventually fall out themselves—unless the tooth loss is addressed. Dentures can fill out those gaps and ensure that your remaining natural teeth stay in place; not to mention, since dentures also bear some of the weight of chewing, they also reduce the amount of wear and tear on existing teeth.

Expands Opportunities

Your smile is usually the first feature that people notice about you, so when it comes to making memorable first impressions, having a complete and dazzling set of pearly whites goes a long way. This can provide you with incredible benefits in the professional world; in fact, according to a 2019 study, the probability of being employed was negatively associated with poor oral health—so if you’ve got a big interview, meeting, or presentation coming up, dentures might be able to give you an edge!

Factors that Affect the Cost of Dentures

When calculating the cost of dentures in Big Pine Key, there are several factors to take into consideration. Some of those include:

• Preliminary dental work (i.e., tooth extractions, gum disease therapy, etc.)
• Number of missing teeth
• Type of acrylic used for the base
• Material your replacement teeth will be made of (usually acrylic or porcelain)

Are Implant Dentures More Expensive?

Yes, but there’s a very good reason for that! They require oral surgery and the placement of multiple dental implants. Because each titanium post is surgically inserted into the jawbone, they’re far more reliable for day-to-day use. You don’t have to worry about them slipping or sliding around in your mouth! Additionally, implants help stimulate the jawbone to provide you with increased biting strength and longevity. With proper care and maintenance, your new smile can easily last a lifetime.

Does Dental Insurance Cover Dentures?

Most dental insurance plans cover up to 50% of the cost of dentures in Big Pine Key. Of course, every policy is unique, which means the exact percentage can vary from patient to patient. You should contact your insurance provider and confirm the details of your coverage before committing to anything. If needed, our team is more than happy to help with that process!

Other Options for Making Dentures Affordable

We understand that not everyone has dental insurance. Fortunately, we offer additional financing options to help make your treatment as affordable as possible, such as:

• CareCredit Financing: This option allows you to split up the total cost of your treatment into smaller monthly installments. Best of all, there’s often little-to-no interest attached to these payment plans.
• Special Offers: Currently, we have a special offer for new patients. If you’re coming to our office for the first time, you can get $100 off treatment that costs $500 or more! That means you can save up to 20% on dentures with this deal.

Remove After Eating

After every meal, you should remove your dentures and rinse them. This helps to prevent the buildup of food debris and plaque. When rinsing, don’t use hot water. Heat can warp the denture material and cause them not to fit.

Clean Your Restoration

To clean your dentures, take them out first. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and a small amount of unscented hand soap, mild dish soap, or denture cleanser to gently brush your dentures. Don’t use regular toothpaste. The materials that dentures are made from are unable to stand up to abrasive products. If you won’t be wearing the dentures again right away, place them in a container of water or denture-cleansing solution so they don’t dry out and lose their shape. Remember to always rinse your dentures thoroughly before putting them back in your mouth.

Keep Your Dentures Safe

When you clean your dentures, place a towel underneath them just in case they slip out of your hands. This will reduce the probability of your dentures becoming damaged. Keep your dentures out of reach of small children and pets.

Remove When You Sleep

Before going to bed, take out your dentures. Wearing dentures restricts the circulation in your gums, leading to soft-tissue irritation. Sleeping with dentures has also been associated with a higher risk of pneumonia as well as higher levels of gum and tongue plaque. Keep your dentures in a denture-soaking solution overnight. Allowing them to dry out will cause them to permanently lose their shape.

Notice Changes

Keep an eye out for changes so you can address them with us. This includes mouth sores, gum irritation, or signs of infection. If your dentures become damaged, don’t try to repair them on your own. You could accidentally damage them further. Instead, give your dentist a call. If your dentures are shifting, clicking, or showing other signs of not fitting properly, let your dentist know. Your restoration may need to be relined or replaced.