Overland Park Dentures – Complete Your Smile
When you lose your teeth, whether it is to decay or to injury, you are going to end up with problems. The most obvious and immediately apparent problem, of course, is that your smile won’t look nearly as good as it once did. For many people, that is even more troubling than the second most obvious effect, which is the inability to enjoy certain foods like steak and chops (unless, of course, you want to run them through a food processor or blender), hard fruits, corn on the cob, and sticky candy.
There are, thankfully, ways to restore your smile. One of the best choices is to get dental implants, since they are virtually identical to your real teeth in both appearance and function. Realistically, they are not for everyone. In rare cases, a medical condition like diabetes or cancer can make implants impractical. Often, cost is a factor. Implants are considerably more expensive than dentures, and unless you can prove that they are essential, your insurance company is unlikely to cover them. When implants are not desirable medically or within reason financially, dentures are the second-best option.
The Procedure and Benefits of Dentures
Dentures are created in order to replace your missing teeth. Whether all your teeth are missing or just some, dentures can be a good solution. Full or partial dentures are simply artificial teeth that are constructed in such a way that they fit over the bone ridge, and when they are fitted properly, they should function in essentially the same way as your original teeth. Perhaps you have heard gruesome tales about dentures that slip or even fall out at the worst possible moment, but the fact is, dentures today are far different than those your parents or grandparents had to contend with. Thanks to modern ways of taking impressions and images of your mouth, modern dentures are remarkably stable.
That said, it can be a bit difficult to wear dentures early on. This is simply because your mouth needs time to adapt. Your gums need to shrink, and until then, a proper fit isn’t possible. That’s why Dr. Headley will take impressions of your mouth preparatory to having your permanent dentures made, and fit you with a temporary set of dentures to wear in the meantime. That way, you will have some time to get used to the way dentures are going to feel in your mouth, and you won’t have to worry about having a “gappy” smile in the interim.
Once your permanent dentures are ready, you’ll come back to have them fitted. It may take a couple of appointments, but once they’re properly fitted and lined, you’ll find that they’ll function in essentially the same way as your original teeth.
Types of Dentures
In addition to the standard, full dentures, there are other options, as well. For instance, if you have only a few teeth missing, you might consider implant-supported dentures. It’s a less costly option than a full set of implants. If you have a few teeth missing in sequence, you might also want to think about a partial denture to fill the spaces. And if you have some tooth loss, but the condition of your teeth would seem to indicate that you will be losing more in the not-too-distant future, you could consider transitional partial dentures as a means of maintaining your smile while waiting to have full dentures created.
Contact Your Overland Park Dentist
No one needs to suffer the embarrassment and loss of functionality that go hand-in-hand with missing teeth. If you would like to restore your smile by means of dentures, contact KS Smile in Overland Park at 913-491-6874 today to learn about the benefits of modern, properly fitted dentures. You can also use the form on our Contact Us page to arrange for a consultation.
To learn more about dentures, read our dentures blogs including:
