Dentures: What are they?
Essentially speaking, dentures are prosthetic devices created as a replication of human teeth and are worn in the mouth in the event that natural teeth are missing. There are mainly two types of dentures: partial dentures, which substitute in the place only a few teeth and prevent other teeth from changing their position, and complete dentures, which replace all the teeth in the mouth. Your dentist will be more than glad to help you choose the type of dentures that are best suited for your particular needs depending on whether or not you will be replacing just some or all of your teeth.
A Short History of Dentures
Known as false teeth to some, dentures have their roots deep in the history of civilization, dating as far back as before the Common Era, when Greece was flourishing with philosophers and marble was the cornerstone of every design. Approximately around 700 B.C, the first standard for denture design was established by the Etruscans, the ancient ancestors of modern Italians, and called for dentures to be made out of either human or other animal teeth. Dentures made from this design broke down quickly, but they were easy to produce and thus were popular up until the 19th century.
Around the 15th century, the first set of European dentures were made and started to resemble what dentures look like today. These dentures were crafted from ivory or bone, or sometimes even made from teeth sourced from graveyards, the recently deceased or living donors who exchanged their healthy teeth for money. Unlike modern dentures, these dentures were extremely uncomfortable and unsightly and usually deteriorated after extended use.
The first set of porcelain dentures were made approximately around 1770 by a man named Alexis Duchateau who established a standard that was soon to flourish. This man’s innovative design became extremely popular and was even awarded the first British patent, given to his assistant Nicholas Dubois De Chemant, and gave the world the first truly modern design of prosthetic teeth, consisting of innovations such as having the ability to be made of any shade or color, lasting much longer than any other denture design, and more closely resembling natural teeth.
Modern Dentures
Since then, the art of dentistry and denture design has come a long way. Today, dentures are made most commonly from acrylic resin and other plastics and present an affordable, safe, and hygienic replacement for teeth while remaining comfortable to wear and easy to integrate into a quality lifestyle. People all over the world use dentures and enjoy the benefits the devices give them while pursuing the hobbies and work they enjoy doing without any form of interruption of said activities.
Modern dentures are extremely customizable, representing the pinnacle of oral engineering, and give to dental patients a wonderful opportunity to recover their smiles and bring out the best in their lives. Meticulously made yet extremely affordable, dentures can be crafted to fit any kind of mouth and adjusted to replace as many teeth as necessary. They can also be made to match the color of remaining teeth as well as blend in with the gums, creating a look that is entirely natural and complementary to the appearance of the individual receiving the device.
Dentures really are a boon to the lives of many people and yet remain inconspicuous to others, which is precisely what they’re designed to do and likewise this fact reflects on the quality of modern design and technology. If you see a person greet you and smile, you may just well be looking at a pair of finely crafted replacement teeth. The ironic thing is that you’d be extremely hard pressed to tell the difference and that right there summarizes the brilliance of dentures!