Dentures are removable appliances for consumers who are missing all of their teeth on either the upper or lower jaw or both. When made right, they can look life-like and be used to chew food quite well without causing discomfort or pain.
When dentures cause problems pertaining to inappropriate appearance, discomfort, loose fit, sore jaws or an uneven bite, it usually means that the denture wearer either needs an adjustment or there is a possibility that they could have been made incorrectly. The problem could be that your dentures were made by a dentist instead of a denturist. Dentists are very qualified dental care providers, but they are not so trained in denture care. Prior to the seventies, dentists were required to have 1,000 hours of training in denture care. Currently, most of them have less than 100 hours of denture training, and do not actually make the dentures themselves. Whereas denturists have over 2,000 hours in denture construction and denture care and are board certified specialists who actually make dentures.
Being a successful denture care practitioner requires years of specialized training and skill. Each denture patient’s mouth, jaws and associated denture needs are quite different from one another. If not evaluated, planned and built properly, dentures will be sure to fail. Over sixty percent of dentures are fitted and made incorrectly.
Denture care providers often tell their denture patients that dental implants will solve their problems, but how can a doctor who is not properly trained in denture care make successful dentures in conjunction with implants? In the United States, thousands of dental implants fail each year; some costing consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, due to irreversible harm.
Definition of Dentures
Dentures as defined by Wikipedia: Dentures are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and which are supported by surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable, however there are many different denture designs, some which rely on bonding or clasping onto teeth or dental implants. There are two main categories of dentures, depending on whether they are used to replace missing teeth on the mandibular arch or the maxillary arch (as found on Wikipedia.)
Types of dentures
Removable Partial Dentures
Removable partial dentures are for patients who are missing some of their teeth on a particular arch. Fixed partial dentures, better known as "crown and bridge", are made from crowns that are fitted on the remaining teeth to act as abutments and pontics made from materials to resemble the missing teeth. Fixed bridges are more expensive than removable appliances but are more stable (as found on Wikipedia.)
Complete Dentures
Conversely, complete dentures or full dentures are worn by patients who are missing all of the teeth in a single arch (i.e the maxillary [upper] or mandibular [lower] arch). (as found on Wikipedia.)
Geneva 2000 Premium Smile Dentures*
What's the difference between conventional dentures and a Geneva 2000™ Dentures? There are many differences between conventional dentures and Geneva 2000™ Dentures, but the main difference is the occlusial technology. This means- how the back teeth are shaped and how they occlude, or contact, together during normal activity such as chewing or talking.
The back teeth of conventional dentures look essentially like natural teeth, with bumps and grooves. This design is perfect for natural teeth which have roots that are securely set into the jaw bone. The tremendous forces that the grinding and crushing of food, over these bumps and grooves exerts, creates forces that direct down through the teeth, and roots into the jaw bone. This combination of teeth set into bone is vital for stability as well as comfort and creates a very efficient system for crushing and grinding food. With conventional dentures though, this pressure exerted unevenly during normal function creates torquing forces. These torquing forces are transfered through the teeth into the plastic denture base that rest on the tissues of the mouth. The uneven torquing forces, caused by the bumps and ridges, can cause the denture to tip, rock and/or dislodge.
Will my denture care provider know about Geneva 2000™ Dentures? The denture technology taught to undergraduate dental students is conventional denture technology. So if your denture care provider is not a denture specialist, and attended post graduate training in advanced denture technology it is unlikely they would know about Geneva technology.
Even though the Geneva asthetic technology can be created by any denture care provider using Geneva denture teeth, tools, and a dental technician trained in Geneva technology, the functional technology, using linear non-interceptive occlusion requires special post graduate training for the denture care provider to perform. Be sure your denture care provider has received this special training, through the Geneva Institute of Prosthodontics, before they deliver dentures using linear non-interceptive occlusion to you.
*As described by Geneva Dental