Keeping your natural teeth for a lifetime is ideal, but for many people, injury, illness, or severe periodontal disease can leave you without all of your healthy teeth intact. When this happens, there are a variety of solutions, including dentures.
Under the direction of Aman Bhullar, DMD, the experienced team of dental professionals at
The Glen Dental in San Jose, California, offers comprehensive dental care, including full-mouth reconstructions. That means we can help whether you’re missing one tooth or all of them. After conducting a thorough examination of your teeth and gums, Dr. Bhullar recommends partial dentures, implant dentures, or a full set of traditional, removable dentures.
If you’re in need of restoring your smile and your self-confidence, we help you determine when dentures are your best option for replacing teeth. In the meantime, we’ve put together some helpful information to assist you as you’re considering a new set of dentures.
The three biggest reasons to consider dentures
In most cases, you don’t need to think about getting dentures unless you’ve experienced any of the following scenarios:
- You’ve lost all of your teeth to severe periodontal (gum) disease
- You were injured in an accident that knocked out some or all of your natural teeth
- You suffer from serious tooth decay and have lost one or more of your teeth
Whatever the reason, losing your teeth makes it difficult to speak naturally and enjoy your favorite foods. You may also feel embarrassed by the appearance of your smile, and that can have a negative impact on your self-esteem, your social life, and your professional life. Additionally, over time, a mouth without teeth can cause your facial muscles to sag, making you look years older than your biological age.
The benefits of dentures
Whether you choose traditional dentures that sit on top of your gums, implant dentures that attach to your jawbone or immediate dentures that allow you to have new teeth without delay, dentures have many benefits, including:
- Restoring your facial structure and helping prevent your skin and muscles from sagging
- Improving your ability to speak naturally again
- Improving your ability to chew most foods
- Boosting your self-confidence
- Improving the overall appearance of your smile
If you only need partial dentures to replace a few missing teeth, they attach securely to your natural teeth to fill in the gaps. Partial dentures can also help prevent your remaining teeth from shifting out of place. When your teeth remain in their properly aligned position, you have a better chance of maintaining good oral health long term.
When traditional dentures are the best option
Partial or complete, traditional dentures are the best choice when you want to avoid dental implant surgery. While implants are ideal for many adults, if Dr. Bhullar determines that you don’t have enough healthy jawbone for implants, or if you’re not ready to commit to the surgery and months of recovery, conventional dentures are optimal for replacing missing teeth.
Don’t let missing teeth prevent you from enjoying the foods you love, having a thriving social life, or achieving your professional goals. Give our office a call at (669) 205-1303 to schedule a consultation. You can also send us a message online.