Songpa-gu Garak-dong Dental Clinic - Do All Teeth Need to Be Removed When Getting Dentures?

송파구가락동치과 - 틀니 할 때 치아는 다 빼야 할까요?

Hello. Near Garak Market Station in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu,

I’m Shin Seung-hwan, the head doctor at Yonsei Uline Dental Clinic, Songpa-gu Garak-dong branch. Nice to meet you.

When considering denture treatment, there are cases where all teeth must be removed and full dentures made, but there are also many cases where partial dentures are chosen while some teeth still remain.

At times like this, the most common question is:

“Which teeth should be removed, and which ones should be left?”

To give the conclusion first, the rule is to keep any teeth that can still be used as much as possible.

If a tooth is not loose, does not hurt, and can still be used functionally right away, it is better to preserve it if possible and make the denture around it.

Especially for people using dentures for the first time, partial dentures that use the remaining teeth as support are much easier to adapt to than full dentures.

That is because if you suddenly start using dentures with no teeth at all, the movement is greater and the discomfort feels much more severe.

However, the answer is a little different when asked, “Should we keep teeth that are very loose?”

If you forcefully keep teeth that are too loose or in poor condition and make dentures around them, it is not uncommon for the tooth to develop problems after only a few months of use.

If that happens, additional extractions become necessary, and the already made denture may need to be modified again or remade from scratch.

This process is often not as neatly resolved as expected, and the fit of the denture can also noticeably worsen.

So in actual treatment, the decision is not made simply based on whether the tooth is being used right now, but on how long it is likely to last in the future.

If a tooth is judged to be usable for about 5 more years with proper care, it is better to preserve it and use it as support for the denture.

On the other hand, if a tooth is highly likely to cause problems within 1 to 2 years,

it means the patient will have to go through treatment again not long after having the denture made, which inevitably increases the burden.

In such cases, although it may be unfortunate, recommending extraction from the beginning is the better choice in the long term.

Another point to consider is not only the condition of the teeth, but also their position or angle, which can interfere with denture fabrication itself.

Even teeth that appear strong on the outside can become major obstacles to denture design if they block the space needed for the denture, like a wisdom tooth lying inward, or if they have been left untreated for a long time and their angle no longer fits properly.

In such cases, even if the tooth is not very loose, extraction may still be necessary for the overall stability and comfort of the denture.

In the end, what matters in denture treatment is not whether teeth are unconditionally kept or unconditionally removed, but a comprehensive judgment of whether leaving them in place will actually make things more uncomfortable, and whether the remaining teeth can help you eat better.

If a tooth has severe mobility or interferes with denture fabrication, it is best to remove it decisively, while teeth that can still be used should be utilized as much as possible. That is the most important standard for wearing dentures comfortably and for a long time.

This has been Yonsei Uline Dental Clinic in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu.