What are the pros and cons of valplast partials vs traditional metal partials. Do they make full dentures?

Question

What are the pros and cons of valplast partials vs traditional metal partials. Do they make full dentures?

Answer 1

Hi,

Of course a Valplast denture has both pros and cons. I will try to list as many as possible.

PROS FOR THE PATIENTS :

1. Better esthetics.

a) No metal clasps (hooks) shows in front of your mouth.

b) Also the tissue area looks much better because the entire base is made out of the pink Valplast material.

2. Valplast material has good memory (like Titanium). Therefore, even if there is a little bit of bending, it comes back to the original shape and position.  

3. Ease of insertion in the mouth because of the flexibility. The rigid metal ones cause problem in that sense.

4. Even if you experience slight shifting of the rest of the teeth over time, because of the flexibility of the Valplast denture, with slight adjustment you should still be able to put it in and out without that much difficulty. The metal ones do not fit anymore with the shifting of the teeth.

4. For the metal dentures selected remaining teeth need to be reshaped so that the denture can fit into those areas like a jigsaw puzzle without interfering the bite. There is no need for such preparation with the valplast dentures.

5. When teeth have angulations where there is an undercut (acute angle), sliding the rigid metal framework into those areas becomes impossible. Again, the flexibility of Valplast makes it easier to accomplish that.

6. Still affordable. These days the insurance companies are also covering the cost (partially though, since it is a major dental procedure requiring a copay).

PROS FOR THE DENTISTS :

1. Easier to make the patients happy.

2. Less chairside time is required for adjustment.

3. Valplast can be heated up in hot water for about a minute and can easily be adjusted and inserted.

4. Rebasing (Changing the entire plastic / tissue area except the plastic / acrylic teeth) is possible.

CONS FOR THE PATIENTS :

1. Valplast material is also like plastic. Therefore, it cannot be made into thin sections like metal. Otherwise, it will break. Therefore, these are still a little bulky.

2. For the same reason, it may take longer to get used to a Valplast denture.

3. Again, because it is not metal, it does not conduct heat and cold like metal. Therefore, it may still feel foreign. You may not enjoy food (e.g., hot soup or icecream)  that well.

4. Not all patients are suitable for Valplast dentures. Since the Valplast dentures utilize the gaps (because of some missing teeth) for the Retento-Grip® tissue-bearing technique for retention, when all teeth are missing, there is no scope for that mechanism to work. Therefore, complete dentures are not done with Valplast.

5. The patients that have periodontal problem may have several teeth that are loose due to bone loss. In that case the better option is to get the rigid metal denture that will support those weak teeth. Instead, if a Valplast denture is made, the whole area keeps on flexing. That in turn results in more bone loss, which is NOT good.

CONS FOR THE DENTISTS :

1. Requires special instruments (knives and polishing kit) to make the adjustments.

2. The laboratory fee is a little higher.

3. A Valplast denture is very hard to repair if fractured. You cannot add onto it. In that case, rebasing is recommended.

4. Not all cases are suitable for Valplast dentures, and it gets very hard to convince the patients to make the right decision because most of the patients value mostly on esthetics without realizing the physics behind the Retento-Grip® tissue-bearing technique for retention.

You can also look at the following web sites to get more information :

http://www.valplast.com/

http://www.kellerlab.com/prod_valplast.s...

http://www.dentalmasters.com/products/da...

Answer 2

pros- no metal clasps to show which often require slight tooth preparation.

cons- not as retentive as metal clasps, if it breaks it is impossible to fix

They do not make full dentures.  The whole point of the valplast is to flex then lock into place.  Full dentures dont need to around anything.