Is there a difference? Yes. There is supposed to be a difference, but that line has been narrowed down so much that denturists no longer exist.
A denturist is a specialized dental care professional who is trained and works exclusively with patients requiring tooth replacement solutions. This is the definition found on the internet.
I, and most people who have lost ALL of their teeth, need a denturist, but alas, every dentist proclaims themselves to be a denturist.
I have a drawer full of dentures made by dentists pretending to be denturists!
My story begins around 85 years ago.
I was horrified to find out that I was endowed with Buck Teeth! Mine were real big Rabbit Teeth! There were songs and poems written about them in school. I hated them!
When I was around 14, a dentist (I suspect he was a denturist) pulled my six front teeth, and under novacaine, he did bone surgery. I was fitted with a partial plate until I was 18. Fun extra fact: I started high school with my front teeth missing! That was in the days of legal hazing! I got to sing in front of the entire town, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!” I survived!
At 18, the rest of my teeth were extracted and replaced with dentures. Since I had surgery, I had an unnatural bite, and the dentist embedded steel wires in the plate for strength.
Those dentures lasted for over 20 years.
I could bite into an apple!
I have a box of dentures made by dentists since then, who proclaimed themselves to be the best. None of the dentures fit well, and every dentist ignored my statement about the surgery and the unnatural bite. Like, I didn’t know my history, and it didn’t happen!.
Most dentists advertise that they make dentures. They do! But do they know anything about how they are supposed to fit? Absolutely not! Nor do they give a damned! The last set I had made took a dozen visits to not get them even close to fitting. The DENTIST popped in ONCE and never saw him again. His helpers sort of knew what they were doing! Theose are in the box of misfit toys!
Don’t like them? Have permanent teeth made at $30,000 or more per jaw! I gotta tell ya, Medicare does NOT cover permanent teeth!
I am now using my handy-dandy Dremel to make an older set that hurts like hell to wear, and eventually, I will be able to eat without pain.
Stay tuned, I will tell you more about my teeth saga later….
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I publish through Draft2Digital, and my eBooks are available at Smashwords and Books2Read. With these outlets, my books are available worldwide.