Denture technology

[saxy_jag]

I'm seriously thinking of facing up to the inevitable and going for dentures. I have two post crowns at the front/top of my mouth, as well as two jacket crowns, one of which is on a tooth that, apparently, will soon be in need of an apisectomy.

Any dentures I eventually have will have to be courtesy of the NHS. Luckily I have a very good dentist. However, the only dentures I'm familiar with are the type my parents had - the old plastic ones. I'm sure they're much better nowadays, and was wondering if anyone can tell me what's available on the NHS these days in terms of denture technology - materials, fitting techniques etc.

[sara3]

http://www.nhs.uk/Liv...Dentaltreatments.aspx

it doesn't look very "advanced" to me :o/

[saxy_jag]

Yeah, I looked at that before I posted. Doesn't give much info at all, really. I found a couple of sites that explain stuff, but they don't say whether what they explain is available via the nhs or not.

[boxtops]

There are many options including bendy plates, teeth much more realistic looking and better coloured than they used to be. Not sure if bendy is available on the NHS though.. I wouldn't recommend the ones with metal clips, sure they mean you don't have a plate on the roof of your mouth but they are not comfortable and I didn't like the pressure on the teeth they are clipped onto. I'm sure your dentist will go through options for NHS with you - the range is not as wide as private but friends with NHS teeth seem relatively pleased with them (I say relatively because like you, not many people really want to have them in the first place!)

[saxy_jag]

Well she is very good (and she has a waiting list to prove it) and she's never made a bad decision for me yet. I was warned from the outset that post crowns in this position could be unstable, but she and I are both stubborn s*ds so we went for it. She also likes a challenge and my teeth are certainly that!

It's just that my physical self-image isn't good at the best of times and this is a big step to take. I want to be absolutely sure I'm getting the best I can. Ideally, I'd have implants (apparently my jaw is very suitable for them), but I just can't afford them.

[Jemisa]

Yes implants are expensive £1000 per tooth.
In my opinion dentures today are very much the same as our parents had, not much different and the NHS ones are the cheapest ones. One still has to pay towards them Adequet but not attractive.

[carlton23]

Forget falsies, and try to retain your own as long as poss. I have a full top and only two of my own on the bottom which the false are wired onto with a loop around each one, and when the plates are out I look like a vampire gone wrong...more like a walrus.

[ayabrea38]

As the teeth are already crowned,instead of the apisectomy(yuk ouch and good luck to you!),has extraction and replacement by bridge been discussed?I know people with up to 2 bridges held on by the one pontic on the upper teeth-ok so they cannot bite into an apple,but cheaper than implants.
As to dentures though,as you are happy with your dentist(golddust)Trust her decision.As to the realness and fit of the dentures,this is also down to the technicians that make them,but again I am sure you are sure your dentist trusts them.!There got that out in the end.

[ayabrea38]

Oh sugarflumps!Sorry no pun intended.Its late.sorry

[Androcles]

Agree with Ayabrea. I have had partial dentures and had them replaced with a bridge built on a jacket on one tooth rpreviously unaffected and the other on an apisected post crown (and it was a second post too - a post extractor tool is a real mediaeval instrument of torture!), and have never looked back. So hang on to your own teeth, crowned or apisected as long as you can - top dentures are never funny whatever the adverts say.

[saxy_jag]

Not sure whether the surrounding teeth are strong enough to support a bridge. Of my top incisors, the two on the right are post-crowned (so no real tooth 'above' the gum line, anyway), and the left two are porcelain jacket crowns. Of the two top canines, the right is also a jacket crown. The left is my own, but filled and not ever so strong. I will discuss bridge work with her, though

My dentist has never been a lover of jacket crowns. She says they have a limited shelf life - around 20 years - and, as in my case, the tooth can decay underneath them without being noticed. Moreover, many dentists are only too ready to do them as a quick fix.

I'm fifty now, and I've got to the stage where I don't care what they do as long it looks OK and I can still play the saxophone.