Dentures Repair

Introduction

A denture is a detachable replacement designed for missing teeth and surrounding soft as well as hard tissues. The dentures are costly these days. Therefore it is prudent to repair them in case of breakage or damage, rather than replacing them with a new one. The denture repair is very affordable and the dentures are provided back within a day after giving them for repair in the dental lab which is convenient. This quickness can reduce the time of being without teeth significantly. Cleaning and Polishing can also be done for all removable prosthetics like acrylic dentures, flippers and night guards.

Faulty care practices, distress, and excessive wear of dentures are common reasons for breakage of any denture. Denture repair extends the life of dentures, quickly restores the denture functions, resulting in saving the time, money and discomfort on the patient’s part.

All the repairs are performed with the help of the high-precision modern equipment. Repair may include use of the new materials having better qualities than original materials of a denture.

In the dental lab, the patient can also receive information on technologies and materials used for the repair. Detailed consultation regarding the repair and care of the dentures is also available in such lab.

Denture repair options:

• Denture Glue Removal- the denture adhesives, glue or any self-repair materials incorporated in a denture are removed before the repair.

• Denture Metal Reinforcement – a special metal mesh is used to correct denture cracks, breaks and fractures. This mesh also increases the strength of the broken area of denture. The metal mesh cannot be sensed by the wearer as it is inserted in the middle layer of denture.

• Professional Denture Cleaning- the build-up of calculi, tartar, blemishes and stains are cleansed by special tools and materials. Polish of the dentures can also be done by professional instruments.

• Duplicate Dentures –these are copies of the original denture made from new materials. Duplicate dentures are made from strong acrylic material.

Types of denture repairs:

There are various types of repairs:

1. Flexible partial repair:

• First step is glue removal or denture adhesive removal.

• After this, the metal mesh is used to reinforce the flexible partial material in case of damage like cracks, breaks and fractures and to increase the strength of the broken area of the partial. Metal mesh is always inserted in the middle layer of partial.

• The calculus build-up, blotches, and stains are removed with special tools and materials.

• Duplicate Partial –it is a copy of original flexible partial made with strong acrylic materials. The flexible partials not made from metals can only be replaced.

2. Partial denture repair:

• The partial dentures are repaired in same way as flexible partials. But more rigid materials need to be used.

3. Denture teeth repair:

• Firstly, the glue or adhesives are removed.

• Metal Reinforcement is done by using metal pins to correct loose teeth as well as chipping and breaking of artificial teeth. This also increases the strength of teeth. The metal pins are inserted inside the denture tooth in such a way that they cannot be felt by the patient and also do not interfere with the function of tooth.

• The plaques, tartar, stains and blotching on the white portion of artificial denture teeth can be cleansed by special equipment and they are also polished to regain their lost shine and refractile properties to light.

4. Cleaning:

• It removes stains; plaques and tartar buildup on dentures. Tartar can be most evident at space between the teeth and on the sides of dentures. It appears as vanilla colored crusts on otherwise clear surface of dentures. It is the of same type as the tartar on the natural teeth.

• Cleaning and Polishing can also be done for all removable prosthetics like acrylic dentures, flippers and night guards.

• However, early repair of dentures can be avoided by good oral hygiene practices as well as care and proper maintenance of these valuable replacements.