On Thursday evening, 35 dentists met at Nobel Biocare in Mahwah to listen to Dr. Jeffrey Rouse of Ridgewood Dental Associates lecture on the intricacies of making dentures. Dr. Rouse is a Prosthodontist, one of the nine specialties recognized by the American Dental Association for advanced training in restorative dentistry. For the last twenty years, Dr. Rouse has chosen to devote much of his attention to the best ways to take impressions and fabricate dentures to make them the most comfortable and life-like. Being a sculpturer and an artist in addition to being a trained dentist has helped him accomplish making well-fitting, life-like dentures.
It is estimated that one quarter of denture wearers are dissatisfied with their dentures. Over the next two decades, according to the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, there will be a 79% increase in adults over 55 years of age and therefore an increase in the need for teeth replacement. Dentistry today, has many options to offer to people without teeth, including dental implants, yet there are many people who still want and need dentures. Dentures are even used in conjunction with many implant processes today. Making a denture that offers full function and is aesthetically pleasing has always been a challenge to dentists and continues to be in great demand today and will continue to be in the future.