What materials are dentures made of

Many people have experienced tooth damage in life, which is usually caused by our long-term bad living habits and lack of attention to oral hygiene. Once the teeth are missing, we will not be able to chew the food completely, which will easily cause a certain gastrointestinal burden. However, many people always don’t know which type of dentures will be more suitable for them when wearing them. Let’s take a look at what materials dentures are made of.

What materials are dentures made of?

There are two types of materials used to make dentures: metal and non-metal.

(1) Metal materials

Metal materials are further divided into alloys and pure gold. Alloys such as nickel-chromium alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy, copper alloy, stainless steel, titanium alloy, gold-palladium alloy, etc. Metal materials are mainly used to make clasps, supports, brackets, etc. for removable dentures, as well as metal crowns and bridges for fixed dentures.

Metal materials can also be divided into precious metals and non-precious metals. What is usually referred to as precious metal porcelain refers to a metal crown that contains more than 80% gold and is then made of platinum or rhodium, palladium and other elements. It is relatively expensive, but it has the obvious advantages of having a gold alloy crown with a gloss close to that of natural teeth, good biocompatibility, and safe use. In particular, the contact between the porcelain teeth and the gums is very natural, and there is no blue-black gum edge. Porcelain teeth made of non-precious metals are mostly made of a metal inner crown made of nickel-chromium alloy and an external high-temperature porcelain. Due to their relatively low price, they are widely used in my country. However, this material has some defects: poor marginal fit; poor biocompatibility with the human body; after wearing for a period of time, black lines are likely to appear in the marginal area where the neck of the tooth contacts the gum tissue, especially in the front teeth area, which affects the appearance to a certain extent; the thermal expansion coefficients of nickel-chromium alloy and porcelain do not match, resulting in porcelain collapse.

Among non-precious metal materials, there is a new material of pure titanium porcelain teeth. Its biggest feature is that it has no toxic side effects on the human body and has the best biocompatibility. Its price is higher among non-precious metal materials, but lower than precious metals.

(2) Non-metallic materials

Non-metallic materials are mainly divided into plastics, composite resins and ceramic materials. Plastics and composite resins are widely used in making crowns and bases (teeth trays) for dentures. Ceramic materials are mainly used to make dental crowns. Porcelain teeth have good wear resistance, but they are not firmly bonded to the dental tray, are easy to fall off, and are difficult to modify. Since the late 1980s, with the emergence of super-ceramic composite fiber bridge technology, all-ceramic restorations of dental crowns (all-ceramic crowns) will gradually replace metal porcelain teeth. All-ceramic crowns can completely avoid metal allergic reactions and have better aesthetic effects, but their disadvantages are that they are not strong enough and are very expensive.

The above is an introduction to what materials dentures are made of. After understanding, we know that dentures are made of many kinds of materials, but the quality of dentures cannot be measured by price. We must make choices based on the damaged parts of our teeth, and also consider our own economic level.