It can be a shock when you learn you have to have your teeth pulled and replaced with full dentures. That’s normal. You might need time to process the circumstances and plan what’s next.
The good news is that you usually have time to make that plan. Extracting teeth is not normally an emergency, so it’s okay to take the necessary steps to find the dentist and dentures that can give you the best smile of your life.
Tooth Loss Can Be a Serious Emotional Blow
One of the things that many dentists forget is that losing a tooth can be emotionally difficult. As with any other loss, you are likely to experience grief. Grief is a complex emotion, and it goes through many stages. It isn’t a uniform progression, either, but it often involves cycling through the stages again and again before you find yourself in a place where you can accept your loss and start planning your next steps.
Dentists should give you space to make the right choices. They should not pressure you to rush into dentures unless you face a genuine dental emergency.
Emergency Extractions Are Uncommon
There are a few situations where you might have a genuine dental emergency and urgently need teeth extracted. However, most situations where dentists recommend emergency extraction are due to potential damage to other teeth. If you consider the extraction of all your teeth, there are fewer situations where this is an emergency. Get a second opinion if you aren’t comfortable with a dentist’s recommendation to pull all your teeth urgently.
The most common situations where you need emergency tooth extraction include:
- Serious infection
- Extreme pain
- Inability to eat
- Bleeding that won’t stop
Severe infections can start in your teeth but spread to your brain, blood, or elsewhere. They can turn deadly. With a serious infection, you might get teeth extracted and get antibiotics.
If you have extreme dental pain, tooth extraction might be necessary to control it.
If the current state of your teeth is such that you can’t eat a nutritious diet, you will need to do something about it relatively quickly. Otherwise, you face malnutrition, even starvation.
If you have bleeding around your teeth that is significant and won’t stop, you might need extraction to get the bleeding under control.
These situations might argue for urgent tooth extraction, but if you don’t have these, you can take the time necessary to make the right decision for yourself. Get a second opinion before getting them removed if you aren’t comfortable with a dentist’s recommendation for urgent tooth extraction. After all, once your teeth are out, we can’t put them back.
Take Time to Find the Right Denture Solution
Other than emergencies, it’s good to consider your options before committing to teeth extraction and replacement with dentures. That way, you can find the best solution for living a healthy, happy, fulfilling life for the rest of your years.
Find the Right Dentist
Not all denture dentists have the same approach to dentures. Don’t assume that the general dentist you’ve been working with for years is the right one to make your dentures. Take time to talk to a few different dentists to figure out which denture dentist is right for you. Read our detailed guide to finding a good denture dentist.
Find the Right Denture
You have more denture options than people did in the past. In addition to traditional dentures, you should consider options like:
- Implant-retained dentures
- Implant-supported dentures
- Cosmetic dentures
- Neuromuscular dentures
Implant-retained dentures use dental implants to hold your dentures in place. This makes your dentures more stable, but biting and chewing pressure still rests on your gums. This means that bite force is limited, and denture discomfort can be a problem if your dentures aren’t properly fitted. Implant-supported dentures use enough dental implants to transfer bite force directly to the bone. This protects your gums from bite forces, making discomfort less likely. It also improves your bite force.
Cosmetic dentures are designed using the latest techniques and technologies in cosmetic dentistry. They will help you have a beautiful smile that looks natural, not like dentures at all. Properly designed, these dentures can give you a facelift-like effect.
Neuromuscular dentures are fitted to your bite to ensure a comfortable jaw position. This helps reduce jaw pain, neck pain, headaches, and other symptoms some people get from traditional dentures.
Some dentures fit into multiple categories. FOY ® Dentures, for example, are cosmetic dentures and neuromuscular dentures that can also be implant dentures.
Find the Right Time
Next, it is important to move forward with your denture solution only when you’re ready. However, once you find the right dentist and the right denture, you might find that you’re more ready to move on than you thought. Once you know that you might be looking forward to the best smile of your life in terms of health, function, and beauty, it can become a lot easier to commit to removing natural teeth that have long been problematic.
Looking for a Denture Dentist?
If you face the loss of your natural teeth and replace them with dentures, your denture dentist matters. A FOY ® Dentures dentist is often a great choice for people who want beautiful, functional dentures. Please contact a local FOY ® Dentures dentist today to learn more about your options.
