Dentures are prosthetic teeth designed to fit and to replace old, missing, or damaged teeth. The dentures, once put into place, are supported by the surrounding soft as well as hard tissues of the oral cavity. Traditional dentures are designed to be removable. However, advances in technology and dental medicine now offer multiple different denture types.

The various types of dentures include those which rely on clasping or bonding onto surrounding natural teeth or by means of a dental implant. Depending on whether dentures are used to replace missing teeth on the mandible arch or the maxillary arch, two main categories of dentures exists. There are a number of informal terms used for dentures, terms such as fake teeth, dental plate or choppers falsies. But most people today know these dental replacement methods as dentures.

To evaluate the difference between types of dentures you may say that dentures or false teeth are much like clothing. They come ready-to-wear and low cost, straight “off the rack.” Their patterns all standard and the material, run of the mill. And then there are dentures that are custom made, individually styled and designed specifically for your mouth, your jaw and your overall look. Custom fit dentures are built just for you with the right fit and, if you so chose to use, they can be mend from the best of materials. Literally, hundreds of design and clinical choices exist to fit individuals with denture needs. After all, each individual has a different constraint and each must have their own special look.

Depending on a patient’s gender and age, there are a number of differences in the shape and size of dentures as well as tooth length and color. For instance, normally, the front teeth are often lighter in colour than the rear teeth in conjunction. Assuring that dentures have the right colour will make a big difference in the level of natural perception. To have natural looking dentures it is normal to shade the false teeth to range in tint from coral near the edge to pinkish near the base.

There are a large number of elements other than colour which are more involved when it comes to making sure of having the most comfortable and best fitting dentures. When dentist weigh in these elements they will have to consider the moisture absorption of base materials. Some base materials will absorb more moisture than others which can affect comfort and overall fit as well as ease of use.