For too long now, dentures have been the butt of various jokes: from grannies losing their teeth blowing out birthday cakes on Instagram and wind-up chattering teeth to sweeties made to look like sets of teeth – all based on the premise that people can’t trust their dentures to stay put on their gums and do a good job of biting and chewing, talking and blowing out candles. But ill-fitting dentures are becoming an anachronism. They may have been around for centuries, but dentures continue to evolve and the latest generation are made with new materials and production techniques, bringing a wealth of new benefits to wearers.
Dentures in Edinburgh are available from various dental practices, including Edinburgh Dental Specialists.
Not sure what dentures are?
There is a bit of confusion around what dentures are, but basically, they are removable artificial teeth. Full dentures replace all the teeth and use suction to adhere to the gums on the lower or upper jaw. Partial dentures replace just some of the teeth and are attached to a plate that goes behind the teeth.
People wear their dentures during the day and then take them out at night and store them in cleansing fluid. Leaving them out gives the gums a chance to rest.
Dentures have been popular for centuries and over time they have been made from all kinds of things. Early denture makers used wood, ivory, bone, as well as real teeth, often taken from the mouths of dead soldiers. They then moved on to using vulcanised rubber to attach the crowns into, but this was replaced when plastics became available. This was when what we recall as comedy teeth came into being: too white crowns, too pink teeth, all flying out of the mouth, falling into food, talking to people from the glass of water by the bed.
Today, in Edinburgh, dentures are handcrafted by highly skilled dental technicians. They employ injection moulding techniques to create really lifelike gum sections, and it is now possible to get the dentures to fit to the gums almost perfectly so that patients get as much chewing power as possible.
