Dentures & Partials

Anyone who has gone through the trauma of losing a tooth knows how much it affects almost every aspect of life. The most apparent distressing issue is the visible change to your smile. A gap in your smile can never look graceful, refined, or polished; in fact, it can make you appear strange, or older than your years.

While that is troublesome enough, missing teeth also determine what food you can comfortably eat (no apples or steak) and even how you sound when you speak. All of this combined takes a drastic toll on your self-esteem.

Dentures and partials are useful and practical solutions to the problem of missing teeth. Unlike the dentures your grandparents may have had, today’s dentures are designed to look realistic and attractive, and improved technology keeps them in place to avoid embarrassing slips.

Today’s modern dentures allow you to eat a variety of foods once forbidden to denture wearers. In fact, most people will never know that you are wearing dentures at all! Your dentist in Scranton, PA Dr. Scott J. Pettinato, can help restore your smile to its original strength and beauty.

What Are Dentures and Partials?

A dentist crafts a new denture Dentures and partials are simply artificial teeth set into a plastic and/or metal base that you wear over your gums.

Dentures in are designed to replace all your teeth. Also known as complete or full dentures, these are an excellent tooth restoration option if you are missing all or most of your teeth on the upper or lower arch, or both. Dr. Pettinato may recommend dental extractions if other teeth in your mouth are damaged or decayed.

Partial dentures in Scranton, PA, “fill in the blanks” when you are only missing some of your teeth. This is a great option when you have healthy teeth in your mouth that we don’t need to extract. It’s essential to restore your missing teeth to avoid the bite pressure shifting in your mouth. When there are gaps in your smile, neighboring teeth start to shift to overcompensate for the gap; this changes the alignment of your smile and can damage existing teeth. Partial dentures avoid this by filling in the gaps and preventing deterioration of your oral structure in a minimally invasive dental procedure.

Dentures and partials are more cost-effective than other tooth replacement options, and they do a great job restoring the vitality of your smile and the function of your bite. Different designs and styles are available, and we’ll work with you to find the denture or partial that is right for you.

Do I Need to Replace My Missing Teeth?

Missing teeth can cause you to miss out on a lot of what life has to offer. You probably find that you have to avoid certain foods you used to love because eating them has become painful or even impossible. The sound and clarity of your speech might change, and people may have trouble understanding you. Even the shape of your face changes when teeth are missing, and you may look older than you actually are due to facial sagging.

Our society places a stigma on missing teeth. You may find that others judge you unfairly because of your teeth and make untrue assumptions, and you may even miss out on career opportunities. If you are self-conscious about your appearance, you may feel your confidence and self-esteem begin to erode until you avoid social situations and even slide into depression.

Dentures and partials can put a stop to all of this and help you enjoy life again. Your dentist in Scranton  can help determine if dentures or partials are a good option for you.

Removable vs. Permanent Dentures

Advances in dental technology have given us a range of options to make sure that you are truly happy with your new smile. In addition to traditional removable dentures and partial appliances, we can also now create more permanent versions that are held in place with dental implants.

Also known as “implant-retained dentures,” they replace your missing tooth root and are permanent as they fuse with your jawbone. If you would like to pursue a more durable option for tooth replacement, we’ll discuss these appliances with you. Call Dr. Pettinato today.