What are dentures made of

Teeth are our tools for eating. Without teeth, eating becomes difficult. Many people do not pay attention to protecting their teeth. If they eat sweets without brushing their teeth, they will develop caries and have to have their teeth pulled out. Sometimes, severe collisions can even knock out teeth. In this case, you need to install dentures or fill dentures to restore the chewing function of the teeth. So what materials are dentures made of? What are the pros and cons of various materials?

1. Plastic teeth. It is chemically connected to the denture base, and finished teeth are mostly used, but they can also be specially made. Plastic teeth are not easy to fall off, are tough and not easy to break, and can be modified at will to adapt to the different tooth gaps of patients. However, it has poor hardness, is easy to wear, and has poor chewing efficiency. The hard plastic teeth that are currently widely used in clinical practice have better wear resistance than ordinary plastic teeth.

2. Porcelain teeth. They are connected to the base with the help of pins or holes on the tooth surface and are all finished products. Porcelain teeth are hard, dense, not easy to wear, have high chewing efficiency, good gloss, and are not easy to be contaminated or discolored. However, it is very brittle and easy to break, and cannot be modified arbitrarily or excessively. Therefore, it is suitable for patients with large gaps, multiple consecutive missing posterior teeth, large gingival distance (the distance from the occlusal surface to the gums), full alveolar ridges in the edentulous area, and healthy periodontal health of the opposing teeth.

3. Metal (lingual) teeth. It refers to the surface of artificial posterior teeth and the lingual surface of front teeth, which are made of different metals cast or hammered and connected to plastic teeth with metal retention devices. Due to the high hardness of metal, it can withstand greater bite force and is not easy to break or wear, but it is difficult to grind. Metal-faced teeth are suitable for those whose opposing teeth are elongated or whose adjacent teeth are tilted or shifted toward the edentulous area, resulting in a small gap between the edentulous areas and a low gingival distance. In addition, various methods are used clinically to improve the performance of dentures, such as embedding metal sheets in plastic teeth to increase the wear resistance of dentures. There are also cast metal mesh reinforcements embedded in the plastic teeth to prevent biting.

4. Metal teeth. In order to prevent the longitudinal fracture of artificial teeth, for those with too small gaps between missing teeth or too low gum distance, cast metal teeth or metal teeth with supports and clasps can be used for integral casting to achieve the purpose of beauty and durability.

Through the above introduction to the materials used for dentures, I believe everyone has a detailed understanding of the characteristics of dentures made of various materials. Based on these, I think everyone can choose the dentures that best suit them. In fact, dentures can not only replace the chewing function of teeth but also make teeth neat and beautiful. Dentures can change our lives.