Dentures

Since as many as 26 percent of older U.S. adults have lost all their teeth, there are a large number of Americans who wear full removable dentures, also known as false teeth. You may be one of them.

How much do you know about dentures? See if you can answer the following questions connected with lost teeth and dentures.

  1. Which word refers to the loss of all permanent teeth?
    1. Atrophy
    2. Prosthetic
    3. Edentulism
    4. Periodontal
  2. What is the name given to the bone that surrounds, supports, and connects to your teeth?
    1. Periodontal
    2. Metacarpal
    3. Tibia
    4. Alveolar
  3. What tissue attaches the teeth to the bone that supports your teeth?
    1. Periodontal Ligament
    2. Periodontal Muscle
    3. Parietal Ligament
    4. Achilles Tendon
  4. When a person loses teeth, the stimulus that keeps the underlying bone health is also lost, and the bone resorbs or melts away. Pressure transmitted by dentures through the gums to the bone can accentuate this process, which is called
    1. Dystrophy
    2. Atrophy
    3. Hypertrophy
    4. None of the above
  5. A device that replaces a missing body part such as an arm or leg, eye, tooth or teeth is referred to as
    1. Robotic
    2. Imaginary
    3. Exotic
    4. Prosthetic
  6. When teeth have to be extracted, bone loss can be minimized by bone grafting. Bone grafting materials are usually a sterile powdered form of
    1. Allograft (human tissue)
    2. Xenograft (animal tissue)
    3. Both
    4. Neither
  7. Wearers of full dentures must re-learn to manipulate the jaw joints, ligaments, nerves, and muscles to work differently in order to speak, bite, and chew. The name for this system of interconnected body mechanisms, originating with the root words for “mouth” and “jaw,” is
    1. Boca biting
    2. Stomatognathic
    3. Periodontal
    4. None of the above
  8. A type of plastic that is artistically formed and colored to make prosthetic teeth and gums look natural is called
    1. methyl methacrylate
    2. beta barbital
    3. rayon
    4. polystyrene
  9. Success in denture wearing depends on
    1. The skill of the dentist
    2. The talent of the laboratory technician
    3. The willing collaboration of the patient
    4. All of the above

Answers: 1c, 2d, 3a, 4b, 5d, 6c, 7b, 8a, 9d. How well did you do? If you have additional questions about full removable dentures, don’t hesitate to ask us.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment or to discuss your questions about dentures. You can also learn more by reading the Dear Doctor article, “Removable Full Dentures.”