Dentures are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and which are supported by surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable, however there are many different denture designs, some which rely on bonding or clipping onto teeth or dental implants.

There are two main categories of dentures, depending on whether they are used to replace missing teeth on the mandibular arch or the maxillary arch. There are many informal names for dentures such as dental plate, false teeth and falsies

Advantages

Dentures can help patients in terms of:

1. Masticatory - improving chewing ability by replacing the edentulous area with acrylic teeth. Thus enable better mastication and pleasure to enjoy food.

2. Aesthetic - providing the visual appearance of having natural teeth, providing support for their lips and cheeks, and correcting the collapsed appearance commonly seen between the nose and the chin.

3. Phonetic - Replacing the toothless area, especially the anteriors, to help patients to speak and pronounce certain words properly without air escapes.

Problems with complete dentures

Problems with dentures include the fact that patients are not used to having something in their mouth that is not food. The brain senses this appliance as "food" and sends messages to the salivary glands to produce more saliva and to secrete it at a higher rate. New dentures will also be the inevitable cause of sore spots as they rub and press on the mucosa (denture bearing soft tissue).

A few denture adjustments for the weeks following insertion of the dentures can take care of this issue. Gagging is another problem encountered by some patients. At times, this may be due to a denture that is too loose fitting, too thick or extended too far posteriorly onto the soft palate. At times, gagging may also be attributed to psychological denial of the denture. (Psychological gagging is the most difficult to treat since it is out of the dentist's control.

In such cases, an implant supported palateless denture may have to be constructed or a hypnotist may need to be consulted). Sometimes there could be a gingivitis under the full dentures, which is caused by accumulation of dental plaque.

Another problem with dentures is keeping them in place. There are three rules governing the existence of removable oral appliances: support, stability and retention.