The use of a dental prosthesis is considered necessary as soon as the first permanent teeth are lost. The most important thing is to restore masticatory function to the patient, which facilitates the swallowing of the food bolus.
In addition to being a very valuable esthetic factor, they restore the patient’s quality of life, prevent the deterioration of the remaining structures and have an influence on the patient’s self-esteem. It is also important to restore phonation and soft tissue support. They can be of different types; fixed, removable and mixed.
Fixed prosthesis
Fixed prostheses are those in which the prosthesis is cemented or screwed on the dental structure or an implant. Their main advantage is that they do not need to be removed from the mouth, giving function and esthetics to the patient. They have the size, shape and color of natural teeth. The patient quickly gets used to them, they require the same care as natural teeth. They can be metal-ceramic or metal-free, zirconium.
Removable prostheses
Removable prostheses are those that the patient has to remove from the mouth after each meal for the correct hygiene of the mouth and his own teeth. They can be metallic with resin or only resin, partial or complete.
– Partial prostheses have retainers, generally metallic, which prevent the movement of the prosthesis during chewing, gesticulation or speech.
– Complete prostheses are those in which the patient has lost all the teeth of one or both arches. They are a real challenge, as they often present retention problems, requiring the patient to use adhesive powders or creams. Depending on the remaining support structures, they present greater or lesser retention. Depending on the design, they can be highly esthetic, since they can reproduce a natural-looking denture.
Mixed dentures
Mixed prostheses are those that have a fixed part cemented on the remaining teeth and another removable part, generally metallic, joined together by a retention system called atache. Also called combined prostheses, they are indicated when the patient requests a treatment with high esthetics, since it does not show retainers in the form of clasps, generally visible when the patient smiles.