Edentulism is a condition caused by tooth loss. Partial edentulism occurs when person loses some teeth while complete edentulism is a result of total tooth loss. Dr. Travis Wilson, DMD is renowned for offering unique removable dental prosthesis services in Owensboro & Beaver Dam.
What Is Tooth Loss?
Tooth loss is a biological process comprising of the fall out of one or several teeth, or could happen due to injury or an infection. Tooth loss occurs typically in deciduous teeth, which adult teeth replace. Jaws and teeth are dynamic. Physiological processes such as bone remodeling and soft tissue inflammation are essential for edentulous patients. Bacteria and the yeast in an individual’s oral cavity cause dental conditions such as caries, gingivitis, and stomatitis.
What Causes Tooth Loss?
In most developed countries, periodontal disease is the primary cause of tooth loss. The teeth might be decay-free. However, the bone that supports them might disappear. It increases tooth mobility and subsequent damage.
What Is a Removable Dental Prosthetic?
Dental prosthetics are intraoral prostheses that restore dental defects such as missing teeth, teeth parts, or the jaw and palate’s soft and hard structures. Prosthodontics is a dental specialty which concentrates on dental prostheses. They aid in improving aesthetics, chewing, and speech. A prosthetic can be attached to dental implants by adjacent muscles or suction. Removable dental prosthetics apply friction against parallel surfaces. They use undercuts of nearby teeth and surrounding tissues to hold them in place.
Which Dental Prosthesis Do We Apply?
- Dentures: Prosthetic devices which fill in dental gaps. The oral cavity’s tissue supports them. We offer removable dentures that bond or clasp on the teeth.
- Palatal obturator: These obstruct openings such as oronasal fistula. The obturator resembles dental retainers, but lack a front wire. They offer a short-term solution to the soft and hard palate’s defects. After surgery, a residual opening may remain on the alveolar ridge, palate and the larynx’s vestibule. They may be used in cases of tissue deficiency. In some instances, we gradually downsize a palatal obturator to strengthen the tissue. If there is small palatal movement, we apply a palatal lift. It elevates the palate while minimizing motion.
- Orthodontic appliances: A dental technology that treats malocclusions. They are a result of disproportionate jaws and tooth irregularity. The devices are categorized as removable, removable fixed and fixed appliances. Removable mobile appliances aid subtle tipping movements.
Functional appliances have a distinct orthodontic technology that alters the mandible’s position. They utilize a patient’s muscle action and nervous system’s responses to produce orthopedic forces.
- Orthodontic headgear: An appliance that is linked to dental braces. The tool helps in correcting severe chewing challenges. It offers a Class 2 correction. We use it in teenagers to rectify overbite issues, and it restricts the upper jaw’s growth as well as increases the space between teeth. A patient should wear it for about 20 hours a day to see significant effects. The treatment lasts for over six months. It depends on an individual’s growth rate and overbite severity.
- Facemask: The dental device regulates the mandible’s and maxillary’s growth. It rectifies underbites by enhancing the upper jaw’s growth. A facemask pulls it forward. A patient should wear it for about 20 hours for it to be effective. The dental treatment lasts for over 10 hours.
After evaluating a patient, our dentists advise on an ideal removable dental prosthesis option. We offer affordable treatment to edentulism patients. Contact us today and book an appointment.