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Denture Identification

False teeth, like all personal items, can be lost or misplaced. Denture replacement after losing a denture is never a pleasant experience. A person whose denture is lost or misplaced may have difficulty chewing, eating, and speaking, and may be embarrassed by their looks.

Often, a missing denture is linked to being hospitalized or entering a nursing home. Personal items such as dentures or eyeglasses can be misplaced because of an accident, sudden illness, or admission to a hospital. Also, it is not difficult for a nursing home resident or staff member to misplace a denture.

Nursing homes, similar to hospitals, are busy places. Residents often are recovering from serious illness, have recently been discharged from a hospital, are undergoing rehabilitation, or have cognitive and mental health problems such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia. If lost or misplaced prosthodontics are found and they are not labeled with something that identifies its owner, it is very unlikely that it will be returned.

• How a denture can be misplaced in a hospital or nursing home:
• Wrapped in a napkin and left on a food tray
• Placed in pocket of clothing
• Removed during a nap and left in bed sheets
• Other patients take denture
• Staff places denture with another patient's belongings

False teeth can be labeled with an identification label at any time. They can be labeled when they are initially constructed, or the label can be added at a later date. A dentist or prosthodontist inserts the labels in an area of the denture that does not interfere with its function or looks. A dentist or dental technician should be responsible for labeling your prosthodontics. Do not label them yourself with home items such as a felt tip pen or marker. Denture identification can be any combination of a first name, last name, initials, or the first initial of the last name with the last four numbers of your Social Security number.

Loss of false teeth causes inconveniences and problems for the sick, the old, the mentally impaired, and family caregivers. Replacing prosthodontics also requires getting used to the new fit and appearance. Denture replacement also involves cost, arranging for a dental visit, time, and transportation. To eliminate the inconveniences of a lost or misplaced denture, consider the benefits of denture identification.

by Denise J. Fedele, D.M.D., M.S.

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

Why Have Regular Comprehensive Denture Check-Ups?

Regular and comprehensive examinations by a dentist are critical to ensure not only the proper function of a denture, but also the maintenance of total oral health.

Two significant things happen to a denture over time:

• It loosens -- Jaw ridges (alveolar ridges) will shrink in size and become smaller due to gradual and continuing bone loss (bone resorption) that occurs in everyone to varying degrees. This results in dentures becoming increasingly loose because they were fabricated originally to fit larger alveolar ridges.
• It wears -- Denture teeth will wear from use. In addition, uneven and irregular tooth wear develops as a denture becomes loose and starts shifting.

Denture loosening combined with uneven tooth wear results in a reciprocal and cyclical reinforcing synergism between the two destructive processes.

As a denture increasingly shifts on its soft tissue and jawbone foundation, it rubs and chafes the alveolar ridge. This causes irritation, soreness, and various types of pathology, including accelerated bone loss. In turn, this will cause more uneven tooth wear, which will cause more accelerated bone loss, and so on, back and forth. This is a gradual and unrelenting process that worsens over time, frequently at the expense of excessive jawbone loss, the thinning of overlying gum tissue, and the need to prematurely replace a denture -- unless detected and corrected in a timely manner.

If these problems are detected early, as during a regular check-up, they often may be remediated by adding plastic (acrylic resin) to the inside of a denture in order to allow it to fit closely against the alveolar ridge again (called relining or rebasing). In addition, irregularly worn teeth may be adjusted, or sometimes replaced or built up. Eventually, a denture will need to be replaced, but generally this will not need to be done too soon if a person visits their licensed dentist for periodic examinations.

Some Other Check-Up Considerations

• The need to adjust a denture, as determined by regular check-ups, helps keep a proper relationship between the jaws and thus maintains esthetics. Keeping jaws in a proper functional relationship, and sometimes building out certain denture surfaces, will support the face and help prevent a premature aging appearance.
• The temporomandibular joints or TMJs (the jaw joints located in front of each ear) undergo constant change in shape throughout life by a process called bone remodeling. This process is a functional response. If improper jaw function occurs, as a result of unadjusted dentures and improper bite, it is possible for the TMJs to remodel into a pathologic relationship. This could result in numerous pathological conditions, including impaired jaw function, headache, and other head and neck pains.
• Sometimes, more importantly than finding denture problems, is the opportunity to detect serious oral pathology, such as cancer, that may be discovered in early stages rather than later when radical and sometimes devastating therapy is necessary. The maintenance of healthy oral tissues is essential for optimum comfort in long-term denture wearers.

by Joseph J. Massad, D.D.S.

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.