Respected doctor I have already got extracted half of my teeth in upper
and lower jaws. Now my question is that to fit artificial tooth set in any
one jaw, do have I to get the remaining natural teeth extracted? –Palanisamy Balakrishnan
Hello Palanisamy,
It is not necessary that you have to pull out all your natural teeth to get a denture. A
dentist’s job is not just to pull teeth out, also to preserve the natural teeth that are
in a healthy state. If your remaining teeth are in a healthy state they could definitely
be preserved and can act as an adjunct to support the denture.
Also, it depends on what kind of artificial teeth set are you planning to have- a
denture or an implant. Please discuss with your dentist after accessing your oral
cavity and taking radiographs.
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Hi! I have a question. If one wants to remove the titanium plates after 7-8
years of jaw surgery, can it be done through another surgery? How can
one test for titanium toxicity in India? – T Sndesha
Dear Sndesha,
Hi! Why do you want to remove your titanium plates? Are you facing some kind of
allergic reaction or swelling due to it?
Titanium is a commonly used inert bio-implant material within the medical and
dental fields and are desired to remain implanted as long as possible as they are
considered to be safe with high success rate. There seems to be no medical reason
to remove asymptomatic titanium plates. It’s better to let them be there if you are
not facing any issues with your titanium plates.
Once titanium plates are used in jaw surgery, an assessment is done with a follow
up every 6 months and later 1 year to assess if the patient is facing any kind of
discomfort or swelling or allergy or titanium corrosion. I assume if the protocol was
followed in your case too.
Titanium toxicity occurs very rarely but there are some rare situations like this. In
such cases, it is important to take the titanium plates out and zirconium plates can
be used as a replacement if required.
If you are facing some kind of allergic reaction, swelling or discomfort, I would
suggest you to take an appointment with the doctor who did the surgery and let the
situation be accessed and a decision made. If you are not facing any such issues then don’t worry yourself with titanium toxicity.
EXPERT THIS WEEK
Dr. Anubha Mahajan is a dentist by profession, Founder and Chairperson – Chronic Pain India. She is also a chronic pain warrior (CRPS & CPS) since 2014 and has been trying to raise awareness for chronic pain and chronic illness in India.
*All queries and responses have been grammatically edited only.
