Dentures are used to replace or protect missing or badly damaged teeth. Beyond aesthetic considerations, a healthy and complete dentition is indeed essential to stay in good health.
“The jaw is the first of the joints in our body,” explains Dr Guillaume Gros, dentist in Tours (37). When one or more teeth are amputated, this imbalance can have repercussions on the whole body, like a domino effect: the patient then risks joint or even muscle pain, for example in the back. “
Also, to spare the muscles and tendons, the dentist installs a prosthesis, that is to say one (or more) false teeth which will allow the jaw to “wedge” and, therefore, to preserve the balance of the whole body.
It’s not just boxers who lose teeth! “Of course, following a trauma to the jaw (a blow or a fall, for example) you can lose a tooth and need a prosthesis, explains Dr Guillaume Gros. But most often, it is cavities and periodontitis that lead to the installation of dental equipment. “
Caries is an infectious disease that damages the structure of the tooth: under the action of bacteria, the sugars consumed are transformed into acids and attack the tooth in depth … until its devitalization.
Periodontitis is also a disease caused by bacteria. However, this time it is the tissues that surround and support the teeth (the gum, ligament and alveolar bone) that are attacked. If left untreated, periodontitis can also lead to the loss of some teeth.
Do not panic: brushing your teeth, using dental floss or having yourself descaled regularly are all small gestures that protect us from these pathologies …
Forget the clichés: dentures are not just for the elderly! “In general, we still wait until the age of 18 before offering a prosthesis to a patient,” explains Dr Guillaume Gros. Indeed, before this age, bone growth is not complete and the solutions can therefore only be temporary. ”
There are two types of dentures: fixed and removable.
Once installed, the fixed prosthesis cannot be removed: it is welded to the jaw. The best known is the crown: this is used to protect a tooth that is damaged but has a healthy root. It is in fact a “cap” installed on the tooth to preserve it. Sometimes, if the tooth is very damaged, it is necessary to strengthen the crown with a pivot, that is to say a rivet implanted in the heart of the tooth to support it.
Conversely, when one or more teeth are missing (there is not even the root left), a bridge must then be installed. The idea is to place one or more false teeth to replace the missing ones by pressing the prosthesis on the remaining teeth and the gum.
Removable prostheses can be removed. Here again, it is a question of replacing missing teeth by pressing the prosthesis on the gum, the remaining teeth and / or the alveolar bone.
“The dentist opts for a removable model when the patient is missing a lot of teeth,” explains Dr. Guillaume Gros. But, for reasons of comfort, the fixed prosthesis remains more comfortable to wear. “
However, some brands have succeeded in developing special “glues” that allow removable prostheses to be attached to the jaw in order to prevent them from moving, especially during meals.
Fixed dental prostheses (crown and bridge, therefore) can be made of metal or ceramic. “While metal is obviously less expensive, it is also less comfortable to wear,” explains Dr Guillaume Gros. First, there is the aesthetic aspect: while the dentist can make sure that the ceramic tooth has the same color as the rest of the dentition, a prosthesis made of silver, titanium, copper or even gold. will necessarily be more showy.
“In addition, with a metal prosthesis, there is a risk that the patient will suffer weak electric shocks at times,” adds Dr Guillaume Gros.
In the case of removable prostheses, several materials are involved. In general, the teeth are made of beige composite resin, for the greatest possible discretion. The plaque that is placed on the gum is made of hypoallergenic metal. “Ceramic is used very little in the case of removable models: this material is not flexible enough”, explains Dr Guillaume Gros.
