A denture is a custom-made appliance carrying artificial teeth on a gum-coloured base. It sits over your gums (and, for a partial, clips around the teeth you still have) so you can bite, chew and speak with more confidence. You take it out to clean it and to give your gums a rest overnight.
There are several designs. Some replace a few teeth, some replace every tooth on the top or bottom, and some are ready the same day teeth are taken out. The base can be acrylic or a thin metal framework, and each feels a little different. The right choice depends on your gums, the teeth you have left and what matters most to you, which is exactly what we sort out together at your first appointment. Weighing up dentures against implants? Our sister clinic's article on choosing between dental implants and dentures sets out the differences.
If you're weighing this up, you're far from alone. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reports that in the 2017–18 national adult oral health study, 1 in 10 adults aged 15 and over (10%) had fewer than 21 natural teeth, and 1 in 25 (4.0%) had lost all of them. Losing every tooth became more common with age, rising from 1.1% of people aged 35–54 to 21% of those aged 75 and over.