What is prosthesis, who is a prostodontist?
All artificial formations that complement any lost part of the body are called prostheses. In dentistry, artificial formations applied to restore the missing and lost function, aesthetics, comfort and health of the missing parts of the teeth or one or more missing teeth and related tissues by using appropriate artificial materials are called dental prostheses.
Prostodontics (dental prosthesis specialty) is a dental specialty that corrects or rehabilitates the appearance, speech and functional problems that occur as a result of disease or injury, by using facial and oral prostheses. People trained in this specialty are called prostodontists.
What are the Types of Prosthesis?
1. Complete Dentures
2. Partial Dentures
a) Fixed Dentures
b) Removable Dentures
3. Implant Supported Dentures
a) Fixed Dentures
b) Removable Dentures
4. Maxillofacial Prostheses
Complete Dentures: Some important problems may occur with the loss of all teeth. These problems can be considered as excessive loss of the bone to be supported, failure to perform the chewing function properly, loss of support of facial tissues, pain or loss of function in the jaw and joint. Total dentures are a type of prosthesis in which artificial teeth made to people who have lost all their teeth are placed on a base plate. The base plate transmits the chewing force to the jawbone through the alveolar mucosa.
Removable and Fixed Partial Dentures: These are prostheses made in cases where some of the teeth are lost. Fixed prostheses are prostheses that are supported by the remaining teeth and attached to them by the dentist, and the patient cannot remove them whenever they want. Removable prostheses are prostheses that are supported by the remaining teeth but can be put in and out and removed. Which type of prosthesis to be made in partial edentulism depends on several factors that need to be carefully evaluated. We can list these factors as follows; the general oral health of the patient and the amount of alveolar bone support, the condition, the position and the functions of the remaining teeth.
Implant Supported Prosthetics Dental implant-supported prostheses, which are preferred as an alternative to the traditional prosthetic techniques which are mentioned above, offer patients a safe advantage, especially in terms of function. The choice of this type of prosthesis construction depends on the factors we have mentioned before. Therefore, you can get a healthy treatment with the approval and guidance of your physician.
Maxillofacial Prostheses: These are prostheses made by protodontists in order to rehabilitate the deficiencies observed in the maxillofacial area.
Is there a treatment for clenching (grinding)?
There are various hypotheses regarding the causes and mechanism of tooth clenching. However, based on these hypotheses, a complete and definitive treatment for clenching has still not been found. Therefore, the aims of dentists are to prevent permanent damage to the jaw joints and to eliminate pain. For this purpose, personalized occlusal splints are the most important tools used in the symptomatic treatment of tooth clenching.
However, occlusal splints alone may not be sufficient. Therefore, according to the picture of the disease, it should be applied in some additional treatments besides occlusal splints.:
- Stress therapy,
- Measures to ensure comfortable sleep,
- Muscle relaxant medication,
- Removing of the incorrect dental fillings and crowns
- Prosthesis applications to replace missing teeth.