Reason to be Optimistic
By Thomas Zaleske


Thanks to the growing number of aging baby boomers, the emphasis on cosmetic
dentistry, and the success of television programs concerning cosmetic makeovers,
removable prosthetic treatment is finally being recognized for the potential impact its comprehensive treatment can afford the edentulous populace.
If you don’t believe it, just look around, the signs are all around us. In the last two years alone, the average denture tooth shade being ordered in the A1, B1 or brighter range has increased two fold. Have you noticed like I have the increase in the words natural or cosmetic in regard to removable prosthetics? Maybe like me, you have also noticed the increase in multi-layered denture teeth being offered, or the increase in kits that offer the option to custom colorize teeth and bases. If you are internet savvy do a word search on cosmetic dentures and you will realize that there are thousands of websites that reference this topic. This is not because of a younger population of edentulous patients, but rather agrowing number of patients and practitioners, beginning to understand that being edentulous does not mean it is the end of the line in looking attractive or having self esteem.

Many may read this and say, how does an A1 shaded denture tooth equate to natural or
cosmetic for a patient in their twilight years?
It is my belief that although a tooth shade this bright for a removable prosthesis may not exactly fit the physiologic age of the patient, it definitely identifies a growing edentulous patient desire to look more youthful and feel complete. This sets up a great position for us serving the edentulous public to be in.
If we comprehensively treat patients by understanding and applying such concepts as
golden proportions of esthetics, natural tooth emergence profiles, base contouring,
polychromatic base coloring, palatal contouring in regard to phonetics, and cater to the treatment philosophy of subliminal acceptance, we can propagate this already growing esthetic demand in removable prosthetic treatment.
Its time to start honing and augmenting cosmetic esthetic concepts with our knowledge
base of what we already understand constitutes good fit, and occlusal function. Nothing is more bothersome than the prevailing attitude by some in dentistry that feel being edentulous somehow rates lower in regard to patient need, than the dentate patient. As we know, removable treatment is by far the most multi-disciplinary treatment afforded the dental patient. With this in mind, let us use the groundswell of patients seeking to enhance their lives with facial cosmetics to enhance our image as providers of a viable cosmetic and functional treatment. One of the greatest challenges we have always faced is identifying and satisfying the subjective needs and desires of the edentulous, but presently these needs and desires are very identifiable.
If our actions are dictated by the subjective nature of removable prosthetics, then the idea, of reducing them any longer to a commodity, can never flourish.