A common concern for aging people is declining oral health. Those who don't diligently attend to their oral hygiene may lose teeth in old age due to tooth decay or gum disease, causing difficulty eating or speaking. Additionally, the self-esteem of some people may suffer if they perceive missing teeth as a detriment to their appearance. Dentures are an excellent way of coping with tooth loss, since oral surgery is often prohibitively expensive, inconvenient or impossible. Dentures can aid those who are missing a few teeth or all of them, and they're easy to install, adjust and maintain. Dentures do have a few drawbacks, but these are easily overcome in most cases.
Those who have lost many teeth may find that they have greater difficulty eating hard or tough foods. Speech may also be more difficult, as many sounds in language are articulated with the teeth. Modern dentures are made of high-quality acrylic resins that are hard enough to chew most foods, and if they're fitted properly, good articulation will come easily as well. Even if those missing teeth are comfortable eating and speaking, they may still have cosmetic concerns; dentures will give them the appearance of a natural and full set of teeth and can increase their self-esteem.
There are a few caveats to dentures. They take some time to get used to, and will usually require a few adjustments after installation. If you're fitted with dentures and you feel any pain or soreness, return to your dentist for an adjustment. Excess salivation is common for those recently fitted with dentures, but this gradually abates over the course of a few days. Some may experience gagging, which may be difficult to overcome. A final word of warning is that although dentures will aid in chewing, foods can be harder to taste.