The type of dental prosthesis to be applied in the treatment of missing teeth, which plays an important role, is determined by your dentist in a way that will best preserve your oral and dental health.
Fixed Prosthesis:
What is a Fixed Prosthesis?
A fixed prosthesis is the process of reconstructing missing teeth, which have an excessive level of material loss or are missing, using materials that resemble the color and tissues of the surrounding teeth. This process, also known as crowning, involves several material options depending on the structure of your tooth. There are various material alternatives such as metal, metal-backed porcelain crowns, reinforced porcelain, or all-porcelain crowns with a zirconium substructure, and metal crowns.
Metal-Backed Porcelain Crowns: These are prosthetics made with aesthetic porcelain placed on a metal substructure.
All-Porcelain Crowns: For front teeth where aesthetics are important, metal-free all-porcelain crowns can be used to achieve a natural appearance similar to natural teeth.
Metal Crowns: These are crowns made entirely of metals such as gold, chrome, cobalt. Unlike all-porcelain crowns, they have limited areas of use and are suitable for use in posterior teeth where aesthetics are not a problem and in areas where all-porcelain crowns cannot be used.
What are the stages of Fixed Prosthesis?
The final form of fixed prostheses involves a minimum of 4 sessions of treatment.
Preparation and Impression: The tooth or teeth to be restored are reduced by the amount of restoration to be applied, and a precise impression of the mouth is taken for laboratory models and procedures. The color to be used in the teeth is determined by mutual agreement between the patient and the dentist.
Substructure Try-In: A trial is made of how the zirconium or metal substructure prepared on the model will be placed in the mouth.
Porcelain Try-In: This is the stage before the completion of the restoration. The porcelain prepared in the laboratory is checked for its relationship with neighboring, opposing teeth, and surrounding tissues. After the aesthetic and color harmony check, the patient’s final approval is obtained. It is sent to the laboratory for polishing.
Polishing and Cementation: The restoration whose polish is done in the laboratory is tried in the mouth. If there is no problem, it is fixed on the tooth after the patient’s approval is obtained, and residues are cleaned after the adhesives harden.
All oral hygiene and care directly affect the life of the restoration. If there are necessary methods for bridges, the patient is informed. Appointments are made for routine check-ups.
Removable Prosthesis:
What is Removable Prosthesis?
Removable prostheses are devices that can be worn and removed by the patient and replace missing teeth. There are various types of them, including full dentures, partial dentures, immediate dentures, and over-dentures.
Full Dentures:
Full dentures, also known as ‘removable dentures,’ are made by taking support from the remaining bone tissue in your upper and lower jaws when you do not have any of your own teeth left in your mouth. They are preferred when implants cannot be placed. Full dentures typically use plastic teeth made from special material rather than porcelain teeth.
Partial Dentures:
Partial dentures are removable appliances that are used as an alternative to implants when you have some of your own teeth left in your mouth but others are missing.
Immediate Dentures:
In cases where all main teeth need to be extracted and the patient does not want to be without teeth, one of the alternatives is ‘immediate dentures,’ which are placed immediately after the natural teeth are extracted. When healing is complete and tissues become incompatible with these dentures, the patient’s permanent dentures are started to be made.
Over-Dentures:
Prosthetics applied on natural teeth or roots in the mouth are called ‘over-dentures.’ The natural teeth or roots on which the prosthesis sits provide retention and stability to the prosthesis.
