Denture Adjustments When You Break a Tooth

Denture adjustments and repairs can fix all kinds of wear and tear on your artificial teeth. They are a necessary and inevitable part of life when you have dentures.

The maintenance of dentures will require one or more adjustments to keep the prosthetics in good shape. A dentist may oversee the repair of a crack or breakage in a set of dentures. They may replace damaged components. This is often the case when one or more denture teeth break, fracture, or fall out.

Why dentures need adjustments when a tooth breaks

The teeth or crowns on a set of dentures can withstand the daily stress and strain of grinding and biting. Still, the pressure causes wear, and it can lead to a fracture or a break.

Another reason that denture teeth chip or crack is due to an accident. Dropping a set of dentures can result in damage to the base, framework, or false teeth. Dentures that fall into the hands of pets and children are also likely to end up with a decent amount of damage.

Dentures with damage to the artificial teeth will likely develop into a bad bite that can cause chronic pain. The breakage may create sharp or rugged surfaces that inflict cuts and sores on the mouth's soft tissues. These kinds of problems lead to uncomfortable dentures that affect the wearer’s quality of life. The person should avoid the temptation of DIY repairs or "learning to live with" bothersome dentures.

How denture adjustments fix a chip, fracture, or missing tooth

Certain dental practices have in-office facilities that can repair minor or even significant damage to dentures. A denture tooth that has a crack or chip counts as a minor repair. The same goes for dentures that have one or more missing teeth. A dentist who has in-house repair facilities will fix the dentures by taking the following steps:

• First, the dentist will examine the dentures to see the extent of damage.
• Next, they will check the fit of the dentures.
• If the dentist finds that the only problem is one or more of the false teeth, they will remove the problem "crowns".
• They will fabricate new teeth that match the size, color, and shape of the adjacent teeth.
• Once the teeth are ready, the dentist will attach them to the dentures.

This process only works when damage to dentures is limited to one or more teeth. Serious damage to the dentures set as a whole will likely require the dentist to enlist the services of a dental lab.