In this school, plastic teeth are used most often. If you are making a single set of dentures opposing dentures with porcelain teeth you certainly could use porcelain. Or you could make a complete set of dentures with porcelain teeth.

You want to be aware that porcelain is very abrasive. If you put porcelain opposite metal anything then the metal will wear. Don't do it.

The worst case situation is to put porcelain anteriors and plastic posteriors. The plastic will wear and the anteriors will be in contact eventually destroying the underlying anterior bone.

If you should set porcelain teeth against natural teeth, then expect the natural teeth will be worn clear to the pulp.

14. Porcelain denture teeth wearing down natural teeth.		14. Pulp chamber is now visible.

Porcelain teeth do not chemically bond with the denture base. The anterior teeth have gold pins with nail heads that grasp the acrylic. The posterior teeth have a hole (diatorics) in the center of the ridge lap connecting to two channels which extend mesially and distally. The acrylic flows into these spaces holding the tooth in place. You can't grind these channels away because the teeth will pop out. Thus if the porcelain teeth do not fit with minimal grinding use plastic.

©1999 by Julius Rosen, D.D.S.