Dentures - Complete & Partial in Miami

What Are Full Dentures and Partial Dentures?

Dentures are essentially removable teeth that fill the gaps left by missing teeth. There are two types of dentures. Full dentures, which are also called complete dentures, replace an entire row of missing teeth. Partial dentures are used when only a few teeth are missing.

At Miami Center for Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry, our team creates full dentures and partial dentures to resemble natural teeth as closely as possible.

What Kind of Denture Would Work Best for Me

The type of denture that works best for you depends on your particular needs. Conventional full dentures are used to replace a full row of teeth on either the upper or lower jaw. When all of the patient's natural teeth have been removed and the gum tissue has healed, the full denture can be placed in the mouth. Don't worry: we can give you a temporary denture, which is also called an immediate denture, to wear while you're waiting for the gum to heal and the permanent denture to be placed.

Once the permanent full denture is placed, it's common to return for comfort adjustments. That's because the shape of the jawbone and gums changes once they are no longer holding natural teeth in place. The supporting bone recedes over time, and this can cause the denture fit to loosen.

Partial dentures, which are also called partials, are dentures that replace only a few missing teeth in a person's mouth. Partials rest on a metal framework that attaches to the patient's natural teeth for support. If the patient's natural teeth are not sufficient to hold the partial in place, then our dentist can place crowns over the supporting teeth to serve as more stable anchors.

Implant-Supported Dentures

As another full denture option, implant-supported dentures are different from the others because they attach to dental implants instead of just resting on your gums. The nature of denture implants requires that you have enough jawbone to support the cosmetic teeth.

You have several options for implant-retained dentures. Bar-retained dentures connect to as many as five implants with clips that are fixed to a thin metal bar. Ball-retained dentures use ball-shaped metal attachments and sockets to connect to your implants. These types of implant-supported dentures are removable; you still take out the false teeth to clean them.

Our dentists in Miami can also create permanent dentures. This type of implant-supported denture is not removable. Instead the full denture is permanently attached to two, four, or more dental implants. The benefit to this type of denture is that you always have teeth in your mouth. They look completely natural and can allow you to enjoy all the activities you could do when you had a full set of healthy, natural teeth.