Replacing teeth

Loosing your teeth is not the end of the story for your mouth. There are lots of alternatives available for replacing missing teeth. These can be provided to

Improve aesthetics.
Improve function.
Prevent movement of the remaining teeth.

Removable replacement of teeth—Dentures

Teeth can be replaced using a removable appliance. This means full or partial dentures. A full denture is the term for a plate that replaces the teeth in an entire jaw, either upper or lower. A partial denture is a part-plate, used to replace only those teeth which are missing in an jaw.. Many people are concerned about having an object in their mouth that is not fixed in place, however modern material and techniques mean that most people find wearing dentures very comfortable. Partial dentures can be made with minimal components in the mouth making the denture difficult to see and easy to wear.

Partial dentures do have advantages over fixed replacements.

Removable replacements minimise the amount preparation on the remaining teeth the other teeth.

Removable appliances may be able to replace teeth where fixed appliances would not

Fixed replacement of teeth— CROWNS AND BRIDGES

A bridge is an artificial tooth retained by attaching to neighbouring teeth in the arch. This keeps the amount of components in the mouth to a minimum, and means that the false tooth is permanently stuck in place. There are two basic groups of bridges.

Adhesive bridges:- The false tooth is retained with a “wing” of metal that sits on the back of one or more teeth.

Conventional bridges:- The false tooth is retained by a “crown” which fully covers the adjacent teeth.

Adhesive bridges require significantly less reduction of the tooth to fit the bridge. However this means that there is less to hold the false tooth in place so these can only be used in certain circumstances.

Conventional bridges require much more reduction of the tooth, however this does give greater strength to the bridge allowing longer gaps to be filled or more heavily restored teeth to be used to retain the bridge. However this reduction may in time weaken a tooth. There are still limits to the gaps these bridges can fill so it will not be possible to provide a bridge in every case.

Fixed replacement of teeth—IMPLANTS

An implant is a “screw” used to replace the root of a missing tooth. This will then allow a single or multiple crowns to be placed to fill the gap. The biggest advantage of implants is that the false tooth is retained on an artificial root, meaning that there is no damage to the surrounding teeth. With care an implant can last a lifetime.

Unfortunately implants are not available on the NHS. However if you would like to consider implant replacement of teeth, a referral can be arranged to a specialist in the area.