What are the dental prostheses?
Dental prostheses are sanitary products or dentures made of different materials and with multiple characteristics, which serve to rehabilitate and replace missing teeth.
What types of dental prostheses are there?
Depending on the case, removable or fixed prosthetic rehabilitations may be offered; Both seek the replacement of missing teeth with custom-made devices in order to repair the loss or diminution of masticatory and phonatory functions, and limit the aesthetic defect. The difference is that the removable prosthesis, as its name suggests, are susceptible to being removed from the mouth by the patient, while the fixed are permanently fixed in the mouth, so the patient cannot remove it by their own means. Fixed prostheses can be attached to remaining teeth (conventional fixed prosthesis), or attached to implants (implant-supported prosthesis).
Types of Prostheses</ u>:
Removable
These removable prostheses consist of artificial teeth attached to an acrylic and / or metallic base, which rests on the gum and is attached to remaining teeth (if they exist) by means of retainers (colloquially called "hooks") or to implants (implant-retained overdentures) by means of fastening mechanisms anchored to them and specific clamps, located inside the prosthesis.
Full
Complete prostheses or full dentures are made of acrylic (in the exceptional case of an allergy they can be made of titanium) and are attached to the gingiva by a "suction cup" effect, very limited in the case of the lower ones; In fact, it is so limited that it is considered inevitable that the lower full dentures will have some kind of movement with the movements of the lips and the tongue, that is, when speaking and chewing.
Partial
Treatment with a removable partial denture is the clinical procedure aimed at restoring missing teeth using medical devices that can be removed from the mouth without the need for the dentist, at the patient's own will.
Partial appliances, so called to replace a part of the teeth and not the whole, can be:
- Metálicos (habitualmente de cromo-cobalto, aunque en casos de alergia se pueden confeccionar en oro o titanio), coloquialmente conocidas como esqueléticos.
- Acrílicos.
Implant retained
Fixed
Fixed prosthesis treatment is a clinical procedure aimed at restoring missing teeth by means of fixed appliances, permanently attached to some natural teeth remaining in the mouth or to osseointegrated implants. Unlike the removable prosthesis, this appliance cannot be removed by the patient by their own means.
Implant supporterd
That is, retained by implants, in which the prosthetic structure can be screwed or cemented on some abutments that are, in turn, screwed to the implants.
Over natural teeth or bridge:
It is a tooth-supported fixed prosthesis, in which it is necessary to grind (carve) the teeth that serve as support, removing a thin layer of thickness.
