The loss or absence of teeth has aesthetic, social, phonatory and masticatory repercussions, which can be solved with dental prostheses. There are fixed and removable prostheses, each with its advantages and disadvantages, which should be explained to you by your dentist depending on the case and the circumstances.
Removable prostheses must fit properly and require care, not only on the part of the patient. The dentist must check the correct function periodically, avoiding pressure areas and movements of the prosthesis, being necessary in many cases the relining of the prosthesis, even annually, to avoid problems such as:
- A maladjusted and/or mobile prosthesis can cause chronic ulcers in the patient's mucosa. These ulcers, if prolonged over time, can lead to cancerous lesions by forcing the regeneration system and causing it to fail.
- Affection of the remaining teeth with friction wear or lesions in the supporting tissues, leading in extreme cases to fractures, mobility or loss of the teeth involved, especially those related to the retaining clasps of the prosthesis.
- A misaligned dental prosthesis accelerates bone and soft tissue loss, leading to edentulism without the possibility of rehabilitation.
- The muscles and joints involved in mastication may also be affected, albeit indirectly, producing pain, clicking and locking during opening and/or closing.
Often, in order to eliminate excess mobility or food accumulation between the soft tissues and the removable prosthesis, patients resort to the excessive use of dental adhesives: dental adhesives improve chewing, sensations and the safety of the patient wearing dental prostheses, but when used in excess, they can cause problems due to lack of hygiene.
Figure 3: Dental adhesives, in small quantities, considerably improve the quality of life of denture wearers.
The sensation of food packing can be diminished or eliminated with gel adhesives, but be aware that it will hinder the hygiene of the prosthesis and if not completely eliminated can cause irritation and superinfection by bacteria and fungi of the soft tissues, and caries in the remaining teeth.
For all these reasons, from Vélez and Lozano We stress the importance of regular check-ups despite the fact that they have no teeth.