Dentures and Partials
Some informal names for dentures are dental plates or false teeth.
Complete or full dentures are worn by patients who are missing all their teeth in an arch (upper or lower).
Types of Partials
Partial dentures can replace one or several missing teeth in an arch.
Valplast
Valplast paritals are virtually undetectable in appearance, and quite natural looking.
When talking to family and friends they most likely will not even notice that the partial is in your mouth.
Valplast is similar to the material used to build traffic cones
Flexible and nearly unbreakable
Does not rest on the natural teeth like the metal framework variety, instead, the clasps rest on the gums surrounding the existing teeth.
Flipper
Replaces one single tooth
Does not involve any other teeth
Is a removable appliance
Acrylic
Brittle acrylic, the same material used to make standard full dentures, with wrought wire clasps which are cured into the structure of the denture base
New artificial teeth can be added quickly to the partial by a dental laboratory
Cast Metal
Cast metal partials are precision made to fit your teeth perfectly.
They are made from an extremely strong light weight cast metal and are made on an exact model (made from an impression) of the patients teeth. Partials should function with both retention and stability.
Neither the metal framework, nor the plastic extensions contact the soft oral tissues with any force reducing "sore spot" occurrences.