Upper Dentures

Upper dentures are dentures that replace missing teeth in the upper jaw. The dentist may require a patient to have upper dentures after a thorough oral examination with a good shape lower dentition while the upper dental ridge is either already gone or necessitates removal.

There are various types of upper denture depending on a patient's needs. The number of teeth to be replaced by the upper denture is considered. Replacement may be made to one or more missing teeth known as partial upper denture and standard full upper denture.

The bridge of the partial upper plate does not require stability through suction to the mouth roof. A clip system is typically used by these dentures to attach them to the remaining teeth they will be placed in between. The dental ridge may be provided with some suction through a precise fit. To strengthen the whole structure, crowns are usually placed on these abutment teeth, thereby giving the denture a firm permanent placement.

The standard full upper denture on the other hand, is made from a pink denture base that extends across the whole palate or mouth's roof. The teeth are precisely positioned and are set into this denture to align with the teeth in the lower jaw. To be able to achieve enough suction for providing stability, a full base with this type of denture is necessary. If not, the patient will have a difficult time in speaking and eating because the denture will tend to move around. In order to provide extra grip, a denture adhesive product may sometimes be needed.

A full upper denture is not tolerated by all patients. The denture is rendered unwearable as the base over the palate may produce a gagging sensation. The dentist may make some modifications to ease the patient's sensation. Cutting away a section from the back of the denture base little by little would be the easiest solution to determine how much base is still needed for suction and to determine exactly how much base an individual can tolerate.

In order to mount the upper denture, the dental ridge may be implanted with small titanium rods. The full palate denture base can be completely removed, leaving a base that rests snugly against the gum ridge, since it is no longer needed for suction. The advantage of having the palate exposed is the possibility of experiencing and tasting the full flavor of food.