HISTORY OF DENTURES
Sets of dentures have been found dating from the 15th century and probably existed before that time. Carved from bone or ivory, or made up of teeth from dead or living donors, these dentures were uncomfortable and rotted after extended use. The first porcelain dentures were made around 1770 by Alexis Duchateau. In 1791 the first Britishpatent was granted to Nicholas Dubois De Chemant, previously assistant to Duchateau. De Chemant's patent specification said (in part): "A composition for the purpose of making of artificial teeth either single double or in rows or in complete sets and also springs for fastening or affixing the same in a more easy and effectual manner than any hitherto discovered which said teeth may be made of any shade or color, which they will retain for any length of time and will consequently more perfectly resemble the natural teeth." He began selling his dentures in 1792 with most of his porcelain paste supplied by Wedgwood. Single teeth in porcelain were made from 1808. Later, dentures were made of vulcanite and then, in the 20th century, acrylic resin and other plastics. In Britain in 1968 79% of those aged 65-74 had no natural teeth, by 1998 this proportion had fallen to 36%.
There are many accounts of scavengers who, in ancient times, after hand-to-hand battles, searched the battlefields and removed healthy teeth from dead warrior's mouths and then sold those teeth to local dentists who invented ways to make the "recycled" teeth into new dentures for their patients.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
In addition, there are legends about George Washington and his problems with dentures. Legends say he first had a local wood carver make him set of oak dentures, later, we are told, he had several other dentures carved out of elephant tusk ivory.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
What follows is a technical explanation about dentures, or, more accurately, removable complete dentures, also called full-mouth false teeth. A denture is used when a patient has no teeth left on the mandibular arch, the maxillary arch, or both. Patients can become entirely edentulous (without teeth) either due to ineffective oral hygiene or trauma. Removable complete dentures, can help give the edentulous patient better masticator (chewing) abilities, as well as enhance the esthetic appeal of their lips in specific and the entire face in general.
Removable partial dentures are for patients who are missing only some of their teeth on a particular arch. Fixed partial dentures, better known as crowns and bridges, are also for patients missing only some of their teeth, but these are more expensive than removable appliances, and they have some unique constraints in certain specific instances.
PROBLEMS WITH COMPLETE DENTURES
Problems with dentures include the fact that patients are not used to having something in their mouth that is not food. The brain senses this appliance as "food" and sends messages to the salivary glands to produce more saliva and to secrete it at a higher rate. New dentures will also be the inevitable cause of sore spots as they rub and press on the mucosa. A few denture adjustments during the weeks following removal of natural teeth and insertion of the dentures can take care of this issue. Gagging is another problem encountered by some patients. At times, this may be due to a denture that is too loose fitting, too thick or not extended far enough posteriorly onto the soft palate. At times, gagging may also be attributed to psychological denial of the denture. Psychological gagging is the most difficult to treat since it is out of the dentists' control. In such cases, an implant supported palate-less denture may have to be constructed or a hypnotist may need to be consulted.
Another problem with dentures is keeping them in place. There are three rules governing the existence of removable oral appliances: support, stability and retention.
SUPPORT
Support is the principle that describes how well the underlying mucosa (oral tissues, including gums and the vestibules) keeps the denture from moving in the vertical plane towards the arch in question, and thus being excessively depressed and moving deeper into the arch. For the mandibular arch, this function is provided by the gingival (gums) and the buccal vestibule (valley region between the gums and the lip), whereas in the maxillary arch, the palate joins in to help support the denture. The larger the denture flanges (the part of the denture that extends into the vestibule), the better the support.
More recently, there has been a move to increase denture stability with implants. When pressure is applied to alveolar bone bereft of teeth (alveolar bone is the bone in which natural teeth normally reside). The bone reacts to this pressure by re-sorbing. After many years of denture wearing, the ridges upon which the dentures rest deteriorate and can easily all but disappear. The insertion of implants into the bone below the dentures can help to seriously combat this unfortunate occurrence. The implants are strategically placed to bear the brunt of the pressure when the denture is used for chewing, thus keeping the bone from melting away. When implants are integrated into the treatment, the denture is now referred to as being an implant supported over-denture and the implants are referred to as over- denture abutments.
STABILITY
Stability is the principle that describes how well the denture base is prevented from moving in the horizontal plane, and thus from sliding side-to-side or front and back. The more the denture base (pink material) runs in smoother and continuous contact with the edentulous ridge (the hill upon which the teeth used to reside, but now consists of only residual alveolar bone with overlying mucosa), the better the stability. Of course, the higher and broader the ridge, the better the stability will be, but this is usually just a result of patient anatomy, barring surgical intervention (bone grafts, etc.).
RETENTION
Retention is the principle that describes how well the denture is prevented from moving in the vertical plane in the opposite direction of insertion The better the topographical mimicry of the intaglio (interior) surface of the underlying mucosa, the better the retention will be (in removable partial dentures, the clasps are a big time provider of retention), The surface tension, suction and just plain old friction will aid in keeping the denture base from breaking intimate contact with the mucosal surface. It is important to note that the most critical element in the retentive design of a full maxillary denture is a complete and total border seal in order to achieve "suction." The border seal is composed of the edges of the anterior and lateral aspects and the posterior palatal seal. Covering the entire hard palate and extending beyond and ending onto the soft palate accomplish the posterior palatal seal design.
As mentioned above, implant technology can vastly improve the patient's denture-wearing experience by increasing stability and saving his or her bone from wearing away. Implant can also help with the retention factor. Instead of merely placing the implants to serve as blocking mechanism against the denture pushing on the alveolar bone, small retentive appliances can be attached to the implants that can then snap into a modified denture base to allow for tremendously increased retention. Options available include a metal Hader bar or precision ball attachments, among other things.
CONCLUSION
As can be expected with any removable appliance placed in the mouth, there will be some problems (in respect to the three principles mentioned above) with dentures no matter how well they are made. This is because the best the dentist can do is fabricate the upper denture to work in harmony with the lower denture when the patient is at rest. If the only variables in the equation are the patient's edentulous ridges and the two dentures, the dentist can set the teeth in certain ways to help prevent dislodgement during opening, closing and swallowing. Once food enters into the picture, the stability of the denture bases is subject to radical disruption. During chewing, the denture bases will sometimes act as Class I levers, and when the patient bites down on the denture's anterior, or front teeth, the posterior, or rear, denture teeth are bound to move away from the ridge.
Although the ideals of denture design will have it that the intaglio surface is in perfect, intimate contact with the ridge and the margins of the denture base will create a perfect suction seal (the seal is actually only on the maxillary denture), ideals are rarely if ever met in this imperfect world, and thus some movement is to be expected. Denture adhesive can then be utilized to compete against the forces trying to pull the denture base away from the mucosa. In a perfect world, a patient with a perfect edentulous ridge and with a perfectly fitting denture would require no adhesive Then the actual form of the denture base should work in tandem with the three principles mentioned above, thus precluding movement in anyway, shape or form.
THE SOLUTION: WEBER DENTURE LINER KIT (Pat.Pend.)
As you can see from reading the above explanation the total support, stability and retention of any denture is difficult to obtain. However, using the liners in the kit can provide a workable and quite satisfactory, low cost alternative to extensive professional adjustments by a dentist. The use of these soft, always flexible and easily replaceable liners can be a most satisfactory solution to the age-old search for dentures that are comfortable to wear. The Weber Denture Liner is a very good way to solve the problem denture wearer's have always had which is to fill their need -at low cost - for comfortable dentures with the best possible support, stability and retention.
Terry Weber is a retired advertising/direct mail sales letter copywriter and inventor of several useful items. Terry and his wife Doris are Habitat For Humanity, RV Care-A- Vanners who, for the past eight years have volunteered to help build more than 39 houses all over the USA. They travel to and from the 2- week long builds in their RV. The money they make on their Crafty-Ones website helps them pay their expenses to and from those volunteer Habitat builds.
P.S. Due to the high cost of gasoline we can no longer afford to drive the RV to Habitat builds. The RV is parked until gasoline prices come down.
To learn exactly how this new denture liner kit can help people with uncomfortable or loose dentures visit:
http://www.weberdentureliner.com or: (
http://www.originalsbyweber.com) There you'll find everything you need to know about this new kind of denture liner.
Contact us today!
ENGLISH (619) 482-3265
* White Smile Center
* Tijuana, Baja California
