The successful prosthetic tooth performs a delicate act of balancing bond strength, wear resistance, esthetics, and occlusion with natural teeth. Dental laboratories seek highly wear-resistant, highly esthetic teeth for implant and premium cases. Historically, this wasn’t always the case, as material options were severely limited.
The first denture teeth can be traced to 700 BC when the Etruscans fabricated the first false teeth from animal teeth.1 This standard did not change much until the 18th century, when hippopotamus, walrus, and elephant ivory became common.1
In the 1770s, French dentists turned to porcelain, which was handpainted to give the appearance of natural teeth.1 Unfortunately, these dentures lacked esthetics and were too brittle.1
While porcelain denture teeth aimed to offer a more durable material, human teeth were still widely used during this period. So-called Waterloo teeth were dentures fabricated from the teeth of dead soldiers left on the battlefield.2 This was common in the early 19th century but was still practiced through the 1860s, during the Civil War.2
Dental laboratory technicians today have a variety of teeth sizes, shapes, and shades to choose from. Here, we present 15 of the industry’s denture teeth offerings.
References
Elsenpeter R. The fascinating history of dentures. Dental Products Report®. October 16, 2018. Accessed May 25, 2021. https://www.dentalproductsreport.com/view/fascinating-history-dentures
Waterloo teeth. The British Dental Association. Accessed May 25, 2021. https://bda.org/museum/collections/teeth-and-dentures/waterloo-teeth
Justi Imperial®
Justi Imperial offers an incisal and interproximal blend that gives this line of teeth the unique ability to absorb and reflect surrounding color.
This means more latitude for blending with natural teeth, resulting in fewer resets because of shade, especially in partial denture cases.
Justi Imperial moulds include 39 upper anteriors, 10 lower anteriors, and 21 upper and 21 lower posteriors.
The Imperial line has good labial anatomy, and overpolishing is not a major concern.
Justi Imperial anterior and posterior teeth are available in 18 Age Shades® 20, 25, 35, 45, 50, 59, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 77, 81, and 82.
Eledent is a premium 3-layer acrylic tooth available in 17 Vita® shades and 50 moulds, comparable to Portrait IPN®.
Eledent teeth are cross-linked and reinforced to have a high resistance to abrasion.
Because of the extreme hardness of the occlusal surface and stability of their colors, Eledent teeth produce excellent results in full and partial dentures.
Portrait IPN’s blend of IPN material delivers superior shading and translucency.
Its highly linked structure provides superior durability.
Suitable for use in full, partial, and implant-supported prostheses, Portrait IPN features excellent abrasion resistance, a low affinity to plaque, and excellent color stability.
Each anterior tooth blends 3 different shaded layers of IPN material, creating 5 distinct esthetic zones: neck, beck/cervical blend, body, mamelons, and enamel/insicial.
Each NOBILDENT tooth goes through a shade control process, which includes human verification in 2 independent steps, followed by machine verification.
The teeth are designed to look completely natural in the mouth due to the gentle blend of translucent incisal, mamelons, and lifelike reflective esthetics of the labial surface.
The teeth are fabricated with high molecular weight Double Cross-Linked (DXL)™ polymers, resulting in improved wear resistance.
It is constructed of filler– and fiber–free Organic Modified Polymer-Network (OMP-N®), which creates color stability, plaque resistance, and high resistance to abrasion.
Its 5-layer anterior teeth feature hybrid and implant constructions and full-bodied, natural esthetics.
The 4-layer posterior teeth feature a fully anatomical 250 cusp angle, clear centric for natural and artificial antagonists, and basal-shaped, integrated setup aid, Preventive Shift Groove (PSG®).
Ivotion combines high-quality tooth and denture base materials in a single bicolor disc.
This monolithic milling disc features unique Shell Geometry, a data-based 3D tooth and dental arch structure suitable for the rapid digital fabrication of removable upper and lower dentures.
Integrated exclusively into 3Shape Dental System CAD software.
Dentures are milled in 1 uninterrupted milling process and only need polishing prior to delivery.