What is a Partial Denture?

Are partial dentures easier to wear than full dentures?

Yes!  The reason partial dentures are easier to wear than full dentures is because you still have remaining natural teeth in your mouth that act as an anchor, which in turn, keeps your denture more secure.

If at all possible try to keep some of your natural teeth if they are healthy and do not have any decay.  Anchoring your partial to solid tooth helps keep in place so it doesn’t shift and move so much.

Nonetheless, partials also become loose and can irritate your gums and cause sore spots.  In this case, your dentist may place a denture reline in your partial.  It may be a soft or hard reliner, but it will fill in the gaps between your denture and your gums.

Another important fact for those with partials, be sure that when you use an over-the-counter denture reliner, that you only use it on the plastic part of the denture.  Our denture reline kits will not adhere to the metal on the partial, they only adhere to the plastic/acrylic part of the denture.

Some partials are made of all plastic/acrylic, while other are completely metal with teeth attached.  Moreover, most partial dentures contain both metal and plastic.