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Dentures – Zionsville, IN
Customized Full & Partial Dentures
to Restore Your Smile
Your teeth are incredibly important for eating and speaking; without a full set of pearly whites, not only do these everyday tasks become more difficult, but the appearance of your smile will diminish. At Trinity Dental in Zionsville, we want all of our patients to live life to the fullest, so we offer various kinds of dentures to help restore functionality to your mouth. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Angelo M. Julovich to find the tooth replacement solution that’s best for you.
Why Choose Trinity Dental for Dentures?
- Implant-Retained Dentures for Enhanced Stability
- Late Appointment Times Available
- We Accept Dental Insurance
Who’s a Good Candidate for Dentures?
Dentures might be an ideal solution for you if you are missing multiple teeth or all of your teeth. Once you arrive at our office for a consultation, we will evaluate your gums and jawbone health to determine if they can properly support prosthetics before we can move forward with renewing your smile. Even if you aren’t a candidate for dentures, we can walk you through any preliminary procedures you might need or alternative options you can undergo for regaining your full bite.
Effects of Missing Teeth
People can lose their teeth for several reasons, including gum disease, poor oral hygiene, accidental injury to the face, or medical conditions that can contribute to tooth loss. Regardless of the cause, not having all of your smile can lead to certain complications down the road. Not only will you have difficulty with daily oral tasks like talking and chewing food properly, but you can also experience negative downsides to your self-confidence and quality of life. Tooth loss also impacts your jawbone, as the tissue can begin to deteriorate due to a lack of stimulation from tooth roots. Fortunately, dentures can help address many of these issues while renewing your bite.
What Qualifies You for Dentures?
In general, people who are missing one, several, or all of their teeth can be eligible for dentures. These prosthetics are incredibly versatile and can be personalized to match your specific dental needs. Additionally, you will need to have great oral health before moving forward with your treatment. This means we will examine your mouth to see if you are free of any underlying issues that could cause problems later on, such as gum disease, decay, or infection. Once these are treated, we can take impressions of your mouth and create your dentures.
This tooth-replacement option is also an ideal solution for those who are working with a budget, as it’s the most affordable method for addressing tooth loss. Last but not least, you’ll need to be committed to practicing good oral hygiene to maintain your prosthetics for the long run.
Alternative Tooth-Replacement Options
Dentures may not always be a viable option for every patient. Even so, our team can offer alternative ways to rebuild your smile. These can include:
- Dental bridges: This prosthetic is made up of two dental crowns connected by pontics (artificial teeth) and is supported by your natural, healthy teeth on either side of the gap. The procedure involves removing a small portion of your enamel to make room for the crowns so the bridge can lay flush on your gum line.
- Dental implants: Instead of resting on your gums or adjacent teeth, your dentures can be directly supported by your jawbone via titanium posts. The dental implants can serve as your new roots, providing exceptional stability and preserving your facial structure. Your results can also typically last decades to a lifetime with minimal care.
What Are Dentures?
Dentures are used to replace multiple teeth at once. They can be used on both the upper and lower jaws. The teeth are made out of ceramic and are set on a base with a metal frame covered in a gum-colored plastic, creating a natural look. Modern dentures are designed with comfort in mind, although you will still need time to adjust to the new sensations in your mouth. There are three kinds of dentures you can get at Trinity Dental depending on your needs:
Full Dentures
These are used to replace an entire row of teeth. They’ll allow you to talk and laugh with confidence. Traditionally, dentures rely on natural suction in the mouth or adhesives to stay in place.
Implant-Retained Dentures
In some cases, dentures can be placed on metal posts surgically inserted into the jawbone. This keeps your new teeth from slipping without having to rely on adhesives. Since they’re integrated with the jawbone, implants will prevent the bone loss that occurs when teeth are missing. The metal posts last for a very long time – possibly a lifetime with good maintenance.
Partial Dentures
If you still have some teeth remaining, partial dentures may be used to keep them from drifting out of position while improving eating and speaking ability.
What Are the Benefits of Dentures?
Missing teeth can harm your appearance and your oral health. Fortunately, dentures can effectively restore your smile. Among other things, they can support your facial structure and help keep the muscles in your face, jaw and neck well-toned, letting you maintain a more youthful look. Whether you’re missing one, some, or all of your teeth, you can be sure to enjoy multiple advantages with your new smile. Here are some of the benefits of dentures that you can expect to appreciate.
Psychological Benefits
There are numerous downsides to missing some or all of your teeth, one of them being your emotional or psychological well-being. With gaps in your smile, you might feel self-conscious and want to hide your appearance, especially during social interactions. With dentures, you can quickly and effectively restore your lost teeth, which can directly boost your confidence and lower anxiety about your looks, chewing ability, speech, and more!
Clearer Enunciation
Talking can be extremely challenging for those who don’t have a complete smile. Oftentimes, to pronounce words, you’ll need to position your tongue and lips in certain ways against your teeth to make particular sounds. Without your pearly whites, you may not be able to enunciate properly. By replacing them with dentures, you’ll be free to articulate and converse with others more efficiently after a brief adjustment period.
Improves Nutrition
Even nutritious meals can be tough to chew or bite into, including fruits, veggies, and lean meats. If you aren’t able to chew and grind your food properly, you can end up struggling with issues like malnutrition and indigestion. With dentures, you’ll regain a significant portion of your biting power, allowing you to expand your diet to include more nutrient-dense and vitamin-rich meals. This will also help promote stronger and healthier overall health, as your bones and gum tissue will benefit from this improvement.
Preserves Oral Health
Sometimes remaining permanent teeth can end up shifting out of place to fill the gaps in your smile. This can result in even further tooth loss as well as jawbone deterioration, as there won’t be any stimulation to maintain a strong facial structure. Dentures can help keep your remaining pearly whites in their positions, and they can even help avoid wear and tear on your enamel by sharing the weight of excessive chewing.
Expands Opportunities
Did you know that your smile is one of the major things people first notice about you? This makes your teeth crucial when it comes to social and professional opportunities, such as a job interview or even a first date. If you’re missing some of yours, replacing them with dentures can give you the edge you need for a great first impression!
How Much Do Dentures Cost?
Every patient’s situation is different, and costs will vary depending on the type of denture you get as well as other factors. In many cases, your dental insurance plan will at least partially cover dentures. We’ll help you create an estimate of the total costs and make sure your new smile is affordable.
Dentures FAQs
Although you now know a bit more about dentures in Zionsville, there’s a good chance you probably still have many questions about how they work, what life is like while wearing them, and how often they need to be replaced. Fortunately, Dr. Julovich and his team have compiled a list of common questions asked by patients. With the following answers, you can hopefully begin to feel more confident in your decision to choose dentures; however, if you still have questions and need assistance, please contact our dental office.
How Long Will You Have to Wait to Get Dentures After Your Teeth Are Pulled?
Most patients are required to wait 6-8 weeks before receiving dentures. However, this is ultimately dependent upon the type of denture you will receive. During this timeframe, your gums will be able to heal correctly, also making it possible to ensure that your dentures fit correctly when placed. If you are receiving immediate dentures, they can be placed the same day as your extraction. While you will be able to eat and speak clearly immediately, your dentist won’t have the opportunity to preview your smile first, and your bone and gums can change as your mouth heals from surgery.
If you are receiving implant dentures, you’ll be required to wait 4-6 months before receiving your denture simply because the bone must fuse with the implant in a process known as osseointegration.
Should I Have All My Teeth Pulled to Get Dentures?
It’s always better to repair a tooth instead of extracting it, if possible. Your denture dentist in Zionsville will only recommend removal if it’s absolutely necessary (i.e., the tooth is severely damaged or possesses extensive decay or there is a serious infection). Should all your teeth be decayed or infected as a result of gum disease, it may be more cost-effective to have them replaced with dentures instead of treating them with dental crowns. While there is no limit to how many teeth can be removed in a single visit, some extractions tend to be more difficult than others.
What Qualifies You for Dentures?
Because there are three types of dentures - partial dentures, full dentures, and implant dentures, the requirements needed are different depending on the type you need. With partial dentures, it is best if you have most of your natural teeth. This type of prosthetic is used to replace a few missing teeth. For full dentures, you will be recommended for this treatment if you have an entire arch of missing teeth. It is also a viable solution if your regular teeth are severely decayed or damaged and cannot be salvaged any other way.
Should you prefer implant dentures, it will be necessary for you to have ample jawbone density as well as good oral health (i.e., no signs of decay or gum disease) and great overall health to ensure improved safety during your oral surgery.
Will It Hurt to Get Dentures?
It is not uncommon to experience some level of discomfort if you need to have teeth extracted before receiving dentures. This can last 3-5 days, typically, but can be remedied using a cold compress and/or over-the-counter medication. Once your new dentures are in place, it may take a few weeks to adjust to the foreign object in your mouth. Some mild irritation might occur as well. How long you can expect the adjustment phase to last varies from person to person, and each time you receive a new set, you might experience a longer adjustment period than before. While mild discomfort is normal, it’s imperative that you call our dental office should pain persist. It may be that your dentures do not fit correctly or there is an underlying health issue that must be addressed to ensure the success of your new smile.