Dentures

Dentures are the artificial prosthesis which is the substitute of missing teeth.  Dentures take support of surrounding soft tissues and teeth to stabilize in oral cavity.
There are two types of dentures:

1.      Partial dentures: When some teeth are present and few are missing then Partial denture is fabricated. Partial dentures are of two types:

·         Removable partial denture(RPD):

Advantages of Removable partial denture are, it can be easily removed by patient and can easily be cleaned. It is less expensive. Removable partial dentures are fully tooth supported and help in normal chewing.

Disadvantages of Removable partial denture are, as removable partial denture is fully tooth supported, sometimes cause injury to tooth supported gums. If patient does not maintain proper oral hygiene, RPD can be harmful for other remaining natural teeth. Due to removing RPD again and again it sometimes becomes loose.

·         Fixed Partial Denture(FPD):

Advantages of fixed partial denture are, these dentures are attached to natural teeth, roots or implants and cannot be removed by patient. FPD has high retention as compared to removable partial denture. Patient feels FPD like his natural teeth; hence less compliance factor.

Disadvantages of FPD are, it is expensive procedure. More time consuming and regular checkups are advisable. If patient’s supportive teeth are not strong enough to bear forces offered by FPD, then it has poor prognosis. If RCT of supportive teeth fails and patient come back with pain in supporting tooth then whole FPD has to be removed and placed again. If FPD is not fixed properly or some space is left while fitting then food lodgment continues and results in bad smell from mouth.

2.      Complete dentures: When all the teeth are missing then complete denture is fabricated. They vary in shape according to the shape of oral cavity. Normally 28 teeth are present in Complete Denture, but sometimes we have to miss second premolar in case of small jaw size.

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