Question: What is a Denturist?
Answer:
Denturists
Denturists are formally trained and licensed members of the dental team of professionals. They specialize in the fitting, construction and delivery removable prosthodontics -- also known as dentures -- in a non-surgical manner directly to the patient. Denturists also repair broken dentures and reline poorly fit and loose complete and partial dentures.
Education and Licensing
Obtaining the distinction of a denturist requires two to three years of training from an accredited denturist technology program. On-the-job training is often a requirement in order to complete and graduate from the program. Denturists are required to obtain the proper license as required by the state or province in which they decide to practice. The individual requirements differ from state-to-state and province-to-province.Duties
A denturist's main goal is to provide the patient with esthetically pleasing, comfortable dentures to replace missing teeth. In order to do this, a denturist is trained to:- Collect medical history information from the patient to identify any problems or contradictions to having dentures
- Perform a visual examination of the patients mouth and facial structure
- Take impressions that are used to construct, reline, and repair dentures
- Fabricate complete upper and lower immediate, conventional, and in some cases, overdentures. Partial dentures are also fabricated by denturists
- Insert the denture into the patients mouth and make adjustments to improve the comfort of the denture
- Hire and supervise dental personnel, such as a dental assistant and dental administrator, to preform allowable clinical duties assigned to the specific discipline and manage the administrative duties for the office
A Rewarding Career
Renewing the self-esteem of a patient with missing teeth by providing them with esthetically pleasing complete or partial dentures is, by far, the most rewarding aspect of a denturist's career. Beyond that denturists enjoy the freedom of owning their own business, or practicing along side a dentist in a general dental practice.If your situation would improve by a visit to the denturist, contact one in your area for an appointment for a consultation to discuss the available options for you.
Sources:
College of Alberta Denturists- "Denturists Facts"
National Denturist Association- "What Denturists Do"
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology- "Denturist Technology"
