New Dentures: Why Might Your Teeth Look So Big?

Posted on: 17 October 2022

There's undoubtedly a sense of anticipation before you try your new dentures for the first time. Your smile is complete once again. Its appearance has been restored, and so has your bite. Dentures aren't quite as stable as natural teeth, but you can once again bite into a wide variety of foods with confidence. And yet there's something a little off-putting about your new dentures. Perhaps you weren't expecting your new smile to be quite so prominent. Could your new false teeth be too big?

Widths

The widths of the prosthetic teeth (typically porcelain) affixed to your denture base are perfectly fine. If the widths of these teeth were excessive, then the required number of teeth wouldn't actually fit into the denture base. If your new teeth appear to be too large, it's likely to be an issue with their vertical dimensions or their height. 

Partial Dentures

Partial dentures that are too high are immediately obvious. This is because they inevitably create a side-by-side comparison. Your natural teeth in your dental arch are viewed directly alongside your prosthetic teeth in your denture base, so the height discrepancy is plain to see. It's not always so evident with full dentures.

Full Dentures

The prosthetic teeth in full dentures have uniformity of height. The height of all the prosthetic teeth is the same, and sometimes the only clue is the striking prominence of the smile. Perhaps it's been some time since your smile was complete, but you don't remember it being so conspicuous. Is this simply how your smile looks now?

The Set of Your Jaw

It's unwise to keep using dentures when the prosthetic teeth have an exaggerated vertical dimension. The natural setting of your jaw has a specific position, determined by your upper and lower teeth making contact with each other when your mouth is closed. If the height of your teeth increases, the set of your jaw changes in an unnatural way, and the tendons and muscles of your jaw can become uncomfortably strained. 

Resizing Prosthetic Teeth

If you suspect that the prosthetic teeth in your new dentures are too high, please bring this to your dentist's attention. The solution is a simple one, and the prosthetic teeth will simply be trimmed or filed to reduce their height. Only a tiny, fractional amount of the height of the teeth will be removed, but the difference will be striking. Your dentures will look more natural and should be more comfortable too. 

Your new dentures should make you want to smile, but that smile should feature prosthetic teeth that are the correct, natural-looking height. For more information on full dentures, contact a company like Kurrajong Denture Clinic.

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