Dentures

Dentures are another way of replacing missing teeth, and are particularly useful if larger numbers of teeth are missing. They are removable and can be made of different materials. The teeth are made of very hard tooth coloured plastic and can be chosen in a shade to match your own teeth. The structure of the denture can be made from different materials.

Hard plastic dentures are what most people think of when discussing false teeth. These are particularly useful if you have no natural teeth. They are supported in the mouth by the gums and can be made with clips to hold them securely if some natural teeth are present.

Metal (Cobalt Chrome) dentures use a metal framework to support the denture. The framework relies on the remaining teeth and gums for support and so often does not have to cover as much of the palate. This can sometimes help in patients who have experienced taste loss with a denture that covers all of their palate, or who find plastic dentures too bulky.

Flexible dentures are relatively new and are plastic dentures that can bend. This means that the plastic can be used to grip into areas that hard dentures would get stuck. These can be very useful in some patients who like the "tighter" feel of the flexible dentures. Like the hard plastic dentures they get all their support from the gums but because of their extra grip they also do not need to cover the palate as much as hard plastic dentures. They also have gum coloured clips that are not easily seen. They cannot be used on patients with no teeth however and are more expensive than the traditional hard plastic dentures as their production is more complicated.