I have a removable partial denture on my upper arch. The only teeth left there are the two front teeth and (knock on wood) they are healthy so far. The partial isn’t the least bit comfortable. I don’t know if that is because of my overbite or because it is a partial. Right now I can eat with the two front teeth and my bottoms. I only put the partials in when I have to chew beef or am going to socialize. My dentist thinks I might be more comfortable if I get rid of those two top teeth. I thought it was better to keep natural teeth. What do you think?
Paul
Dear Paul,
I need to qualify this with the fact that I have not examined your bite or even seen x-rays. The best I can do for you is to give you some general guidelines. You are correct that under normal circumstances it is best to keep any natural teeth possible. There are some unique circumstances in your case.
First, there are high stresses on those two teeth, even though they are healthy now, I wouldn’t have full confidence that they would remain that way. A second factor is your underbite. This will put stress on your bottom arch. A well-made denture will be much easier on those teeth than your natural teeth will.
In your case, I think removing the remaining two upper teeth will not be as disastrous as most often would be the case. A full denture is much more comfortable than a partial.
You didn’t tell me your age, but bone absorption is a big problem when you have missing teeth. If possible, the best treatment option would be for you to get some dental implants placed in order to secure your denture to them. It’s not as urgent to have implants on the top arch where your denture is held in by suction. Even then, however, there is always movement. Securing them with implants will make them even more comfortable as well as prevent any further bone resorption.
On your bottom arch, if you were to lose those teeth, then dental implants would be even more urgent. On your bottom arch, your denture just rests on the ridge of your jaw. The longer you wear dentures the more of your jawbone shrinks away until you are dealing with facial collapse. Placing the implants, prevents that from happening.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.