Enjoy A Complete Smile Again With Prosthetic Dentistry

When you begin to lose your teeth, we want to offer a replacement option that looks natural and blends with your smile. With prosthetic dentistry, we have multiple options to take on minor and even advanced cases of tooth loss. In today’s blog, your Grand Prairie, TX, dentist talks about our approach to prosthetic dentistry and how we can help you obtain a complete smile again!

The Causes of Adult Tooth Loss

Why do we lose our natural teeth in the first place? Missing teeth could be due to injury to the face or jaw. Advanced tooth decay or untreated dental infection could also lead to missing teeth. The most common cause is actually the periodontitis stage of periodontal disease. As part of your treatment, we want to assess the cause of your tooth loss. With this information, we can manage any underlying issues that could threaten your new teeth. For example, we can treat and manage gum disease to avoid implant failure!

The Risks for Your Oral Health

What issues will tooth loss cause for your smile? When we lose teeth, this could lead to surrounding teeth shifting from position to cause misalignment and with it, a greater risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Missing teeth also means imbalanced bites, and stress on the jaw joints due to this could lead to TMJ disorder and bruxism (teeth grinding). You could be limited in your meal options, which deprives you of essential nutrients. Missing teeth could also cause issues speaking clearly too.

The most severe impact on your smile is the loss of mass and density, as the body stops sending key nutrients to the jaw around the lost roots. Without these nutrients, the bone breaks down to cause further tooth loss and even a prematurely aged appearance. You may also feel uncomfortable with your appearance, which causes issues in social situations and with your overall quality of life.

Planning Your Tooth Replacement

When you see us for a dental prosthetic, our team will take a close look at your smile with advanced imaging technology, such as digital x-rays and intraoral cameras. These high-definition images are available chairside right away, so we can walk you through the diagnosis and help plan the best way to address missing teeth. Every smile is unique, so your dental prosthetic will be custom-made for your smile.

Dental Bridges

One common dental prosthetic is a dental bridge. This option can address a single missing tooth, or as many as three or four in a row. The prosthetic contains new teeth and crowns attached to each end. Made from ceramic, these can handle daily bite forces and also be shaded to blend with your smile. The crown portions are attached it to the teeth on each side of the gap, securing your new ones firmly in place. On average, your new bridge will last about 10 to 15 years before replacement is necessary. We will provide instructions for caring for your new teeth!

Partial Dentures

What if you have multiple gaps spread out across the arch of your smile? In these situations, you may have tooth loss too complicated for a bridge, but you still have enough natural teeth in place that a full denture isn’t necessary. Instead, you may need a partial! We will take detailed digital images of your smile and use them in a lab setting to design and craft your denture, which contains new teeth set in acrylic base. The new teeth will fit in the gaps in your smile, and metal clasps that connect to natural teeth will keep them firmly in place. These are removable and need to be soaked regularly, and tend to last about 5 to 10 years.

Full Dentures

What if you have lost most of your teeth? In this situation, we will extract the last few teeth and take detailed digital images of your smile from multiple angles. We use these images and measurements in a lab setting to design and craft your full denture. The prosthetic will contain a complete row of new teeth set in an acrylic base, one that looks like gum tissue. Suction or an adhesive will keep them in place, and as with partial, they need to be soaked and cleaned regularly. Again, these last about 5 to 10 years, as replacement is ended as the jaw ridge changes shape.

Dental Implants

The most durable, long-lasting, and lifelike option we have are dental implants. These are biocompatible titanium posts that we insert into the jawbone, where the body accepts them as natural roots. This means the flow of nutrients resumes to keep your smile intact, so your new teeth can remain there for decades to come, possibly a lifetime. Once the posts are placed, we can complete an individual one with a crown, or for major tooth loss, use several posts to support a bridge or even a denture. Again, since the implants preserve the jaw, your fixed implant dentures can last for decades to come as well, no need to remove them every few months. They will also never slip and don’t need to be removed for clearing or soaking. Instead, they look and function like natural teeth, lasting for years to come.

If you have any questions about how our team will provide dental prosthetics to fill the gaps and return your smile to full function, health, add beauty, then contact our team today. Whether you have lost one tooth or all of them, and even if years have elapsed since you lost your teeth, we can help you enjoy a full smile again. You deserve a full smile, and we want to make it happen for you in 2025.

Do You Have Any Questions About Prosthetic Dentistry?

The team at Pecan Tree Dental in Grand Prairie, TX, is ready to tackle your tooth loss and help you enjoy a full smile again with our durable and custom-made dental prosthetic! We want to ensure you can smile with confidence and enjoy your foods again without hesitation, so reach soon to get started. To schedule an appointment with our team, call us today at 972-262-5111.