DENTURES

If you already wear dentures you may be familiar with some of the information on this sheet. If  you don't it will probably be new to you.

THERE ARE SOME MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DENTURES AND NATURAL TEETH YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT:

1) Dentures have greatly reduced chewing and tearing ability compared to natural teeth. (Very successful denture wearers think that it's a big deal if they can eat food like corn on the cob-something that people with their own teeth think nothing of).

2) Dentures occupy more room than your own teeth did-they may feel -too big"

3) Speaking may be difficult with dentures-it sometimes requires practice.

4) Dentures move around somewhat during use, especially the lowers.

Despite these disadvantages millions of people do wear dentures and many get along very satisfactorily. The most important factor which determines how -tight your dentures will fit is the size and shape of your gums. People with large ridges will generally have more stable dentures. As patients age their ridges generally shrink (sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly). This can cause their dentures to loosen.

Relining a denture will usually help re-“tighten” loose dentures, although they may not be quite as tight as when the ridges were larger.