Dentures – Peabody, MA

Psychological Benefits

Restoring the functional aspects of your mouth is important, but it’s easy to overlook how tooth loss affects your mental health. Losing teeth can make you feel guilt, shame, and embarrassment. These feelings grow and can cause various stressful issues such as anxiety, depression, and strained relationships.

Restoring your teeth with dentures can fill the gaps in your smile and your confidence, improving your self-esteem. In turn, this will help strengthen your relationships and make socialization more enjoyable. In time, you may feel like a new person with a greater appreciation for your pearly whites than ever before.

Clearer Enunciation

Words are formed by complex movements between your tongue and the air escaping your lungs. Missing teeth can drastically interfere with this process, causing speech impediments like slurring, whistling, and mumbling.

With dentures, you’ll replace what was lost and allow your tongue and teeth to work in tandem once again. After a brief adjustment period, you’ll have fully restored speech faculties. This will make holding conversations with friends and family easier and more fulfilling.

Improves Nutrition

Many patients with missing teeth would rather skip over food they can’t chew instead of modifying it. Even when they do partake, their food often doesn’t get processed very well. This is just one more way that tooth loss can inhibit other bodily functions like your digestive tract. Over time, this can cause a chronic upset stomach, and other health issues due to lack of nutrition. Dentures solve this by restoring your ability to properly chew your food.

Preserves Oral Health

Almost as soon as a tooth is lost, the adjacent ones begin trying to move into the space it once occupied. While this is a natural response of your body to try to preserve your chewing function, it also leaves them vulnerable to wear and tear. The extra space around them can also become traps for food particles and bacteria to congregate. Dentures fill the spaces between your teeth, preventing the gradual shift and keeping our mouth healthier overall.

Expands Opportunity

Whether you’re a customer service representative, a front-facing salesperson, or simply work with many people every day, dentures can be a benefit to your career. One of the first things anyone notices when they meet a new person is their smile, for better or for worse. A confident and genuine smile with good aesthetics shows that you’re clean, dependable, intelligent, and approachable. These are the qualities that managers and prospective clients alike are looking for.

Factors That Affect the Cost of Dentures

There isn't a set fee for dentures because there's a one-size-fits-all prosthetic. Every mouth and situation differs, and many factors affect the amount you'll pay, including:

• Consultation: You'll require a consultation, which may include X-rays, impressions, or other diagnostic services.
• Preparatory Procedures: Based on the results of your examination, you might need a little prep work before getting dentures, like tooth extractions or gum disease therapy.
• Type of Denture: You have many types and styles of dentures to choose from, like traditional prosthetics or implant-supported solutions.
• Number of Arches: Treating both arches will increase the cost, but you can't just have teeth on the top or bottom.
• Materials: Discounted materials cost less, but they may not be as durable, comfortable, or aesthetically pleasing as higher-quality options. It's better to focus on quality instead of the price.

Are Implant Dentures More Expensive?

Implant dentures are more expensive initially than traditional prosthetics, but they are the most cost-effective long-term. Dental implants have over a 95% success rate and are proven to last for decades with the right care. Traditional full dentures need to be replaced every few years, which can get costly over time. As a result, dental implants can end up paying for themselves down the road. Not to mention, they are the only method to replace both the roots and the crowns, giving you the next best thing to real teeth. You can't put a price on the benefits you'll gain by investing in dental implants.

Does Dental Insurance Cover Dentures?

You can use your dental insurance for your consultation and diagnostic services. Your benefits may cover any medically necessary preparatory procedures. You can use your insurance to cover some of the expenses of dentures, which are considered a major service. After meeting your annual deductible, you can use your yearly allowance to lower the amount you will pay. A member of our office will work on your behalf with your dental insurance to help you maximize your coverage to lower your out-of-pocket responsibility.

Other Options for Making Dentures Affordable

Besides using your dental insurance, we offer multiple options to keep dentures affordable, like:

• Traditional Payments: Our office accepts all traditional payment methods, including cash, personal checks, and credit cards.
• Monthly Payments: You can pay any out-of-pocket expenses using a monthly payment plan through a third-party financing company, like CareCredit. You can benefit from little or no interest in financing based on your credit approval.

Remove After Eating

Following each meal, carefully remove and thoroughly rinse your dentures to wash away plaque and food debris. This will prevent unsightly accumulations that can lead to oral infections and bad breath. Whenever cleaning or otherwise caring for your dentures, remember not to use hot water, as the heat can deform the base of your appliance and cause it to lose its fit.

Clean Your Restoration

It’s important to remove your dentures for a thorough cleaning at least once a day. Using a soft-bristled toothbrush and a little bit of unscented hand soap, mild dish soap, or denture cleanser, gently clean every surface of each tooth your appliance has. Don’t use regular toothpaste, as it is abrasive enough to leave visible scratches on your artificial teeth. If you aren’t going to put your dentures back in immediately, soak them in a vessel of water or denture-cleansing solution to prevent them from drying out and warping. Before reinserting your dentures after soaking, thoroughly rinse them to prevent harsh chemicals from being placed in your mouth.

Keep Your Dentures Safe

When cleaning your dentures, fill the basin of your sink with lukewarm water and place folded towels across your countertop to create a cushion in case you drop them. It’s also important to keep your appliance out of the reach of small children and pets.

Remove Dentures When You Sleep

The mouth needs at least eight hours away from the dentures every day so that it has time to rest and clean itself. Continuous denture wear can lead to a host of oral health problems including soft tissue irritation, infections, bad breath, and erosion of gum or bone tissue. Sleeping with dentures is associated with a higher risk of pneumonia and greater levels of gum and tongue plaque, so most patients remove and soak their dentures before going to bed.

Notice Changes

Pay attention to the condition of your dentures and the way they fit and report anything unusual to your dentist. A few things to look out for include oral sores, gum irritation, signs of infection, and signs of not fitting properly such as shifting and clicking. If your dentures have been damaged, do not try to repair them on your own, as you may simply damage the appliance further.  Instead, call our office so we can adjust, repair, reline, or replace your dentures.