Replacing bad teeth with dentures

Innisfil Denture Clinic's Tarvo Puust It is often the case at any social gathering that once someone knows your profession you get asked a million questions about it.

If you're the mayor you get asked questions about your town, when you are a lawyer you are asked legal problems. I believe family doctors have it the worst, with listening to various health problems that never have simple answers. As a denturist, I get asked denture questions of all kinds. But the most surprising is the question of removing all your natural teeth and replacing them with dentures. Many people think that this is the greatest idea. It is especially true for those who either don't like the look of their teeth or have sensitive or painful teeth. Imagine the idea of never having to go to the dentist; a great money saver, and no more cavities. But what people often don't realize is what dentures really involve.

The biggest change is your chewing power gets reduced by 10 per cent, so many of the foods you may have been able to enjoy have now become challenging, such as steak and corn-onthe cob, or even things with seeds such as raspberries or nuts. Those small foods can get in under the denture and cause discomfort. When denture wearers go to a restaurant, many of them look at the menu by what they can eat, not what they want to eat. Since it is more difficult to chew, denture wearers will swallow larger pieces of food than people with their natural teeth. This causes added stress on the digestive system.

Once your teeth are extracted, the jaw bone begins to recede. The lower denture is what seems to give people the most trouble, as there is no suction to hold it into place, and if there is nothing for the denture to hang on too, the denture slides around like on a skating rink.

In the case of an upper denture, the whole top of your mouth is covered by denture, so it makes tasting and sensing foods more difficult. Many denture wearers over salt their foods due to this. However for many people, this has been traditionally thought of as the only option, when in fact, denture wearers have plenty. There is the traditional option of standard dentures, but there is also precision dentures, soft liners, implant supported dentures, implant retained dentures, bar overdentures, and permanent teeth-in-aday solutions, just to name a few.

The most revolutionary is the permanent teeth-in-aday, as it is exactly what it sounds like. The results are predictable, there is close to a 100 per cent success rate, and you will be closer than you ever thought imaginable to having your healthy natural teeth back (without the cavities of course). The discomfort is minimal as you are welcome to enjoy a steak if you wish, for dinner right after the procedure.

This procedure is only available for full denture patients however, or those who are contemplating removing their remaining natural teeth.

You can find out more information on permanent teeth from www.secondsmile. ca or you can make an appointment at the Innisfil Denture Clinic, by calling 436-1886.

The office is located at 958 Innisfil Beach Road (across from the Innisfil Public Library's Lakeshore branch) in Alcona. Our website is www.innisfildenture.com.