Friday, April 3, 2009

Metal Palates In Dentures

As we age, we run into all kinds of agitating problems. One problem that is quite common is the need for dentures or false teeth. Getting dentures is important to your health because teeth support the structure of your face, and unhealthy teeth can lead to other serious health problems. There is a lot to consider when getting dentures. After learning about dentures, you may decide that metal palate dentures are right for you.


Palate


The roof of your mouth is called the palate. The palate consists of two parts, the hard palate and the soft palate. The hard palate is the front of the palate. If you rub your tongue against the hard palate, you feel that it has ridges. The soft palate is the smooth, dome-like "roof" of your mouth. The palate is a very important part in the construction of dentures. Denture makers can easily shape metal to fit the curves of the palate so the dentures are more comfortable and fit tightly in order to stay in the mouth.








Denture Design


Dentures are constructed to fit perfectly into your mouth. Dentures make you appear to have real teeth, as well as to support the muscles in your face. Without teeth, these facial muscles can sag. Denture makers construct the palates of metal or plastic. Plastic dentures require denture gel to stay in the mouth whereas metal dentures do not.


Materials


The idea of metal tightly secured to the roof of your mouth may make you a bit wary of metal dentures. The metal palate is made of a medical grade alloy. The alloy is hypoallergenic, or in other words, you will not have an allergic reaction to the metal. The alloy is fabricated to be compatible with the tissue of your mouth. It will not cause reactions of irritations. Some metal palate dentures may be lined with a soft plastic liner that fits between the mouth and the denture.


Durability


Metal based dentures are very durable. The medical grade alloy used to make them is very strong. Metal dentures will unlikely break or bend out of shape. Metal dentures are built last. Metal dentures are also very flexible. They can easily be added to with other materials to help them fit in the mouth. This also helps them last longer than plastic based dentures.


Disadvantages








Although metal dentures are very effective and fit snugly in the mouth, they have a few disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the standard metal denture with no soft liner can be difficult to reline. In this case technicians may need to reconstruct the dentures. The other disadvantage of metal dentures is that they are more expensive than plastic dentures.

Tags: your mouth, hard palate, metal dentures, metal palate, palate dentures