There was a picture in the TV news: Taiwan’s former leader Lee Teng-hui had been at a campaign meeting, his voice, suddenly, the upper row of dentures inadvertently loose, his lips hurriedly force a purse, the dentures nearly out of the mouth hard back, the scene makes people laugh. When we zoom in, we may find that there are 2.6 million edentulous patients in the country who may also be suffering from the trouble of dentures “coming out of the mouth”. Recently, the reporter learned from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen Department of Prosthodontics Professor Ye Jiantao, when the magic of small magnets installed into the dentures, “toothless people” can say “Byebye!” with denture loosening in style. is the use of metal hooks hooked to other teeth for fixed, this way may be hidden what is the disadvantage? Perhaps you can see a little from the following example. Ms. Chang, 63 years old, wearing removable dentures for many years, dentures not only often loose, and the placement of metal hooks (rings) of the teeth one by one loose off, see the only two tiger teeth left in the lower jaw also shaky, and then put wire hooks? Will the only two remaining teeth be lost? It will be more uncomfortable to have full dentures after all the teeth are lost, right? Ms. Chang was in distress …… There are few people who have the same distress as Ms. Chang in their lives. According to Associate Professor Ye Jiantao of the Department of Prosthodontics at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, patients with edentulous jaws (commonly referred to as the absence of all teeth in the upper or lower jaw) account for 2% of our population, about 2.6 million people, one third of whom will suffer from poor denture retention. If the dentures are loose, not only do they feel painful, chewing is not strong, unattractive, and may fall out when the mouth is wide open, but they even feel uncomfortable and reduce the quality of life. Fortunately, in the last decade, a newly developed magnetic attachment denture fixation device has brought a blessing to patients. The magnetic attachment is composed of an armature mounted on the remaining tooth roots or implants in the patient’s mouth and a magnet mounted on the denture base, using the magnetic attraction between the two to stabilize the denture and prevent it from loosening and falling out. With the advantages of reliable retention, compact size, no corrosion, no lateral force transmission, conducive to the protection of abutment teeth, uncomplicated operation technology, widely used, easy to use, etc., has been widely used in full coverage denture, partial coverage denture, fixed / movable denture, maxillofacial prosthesis attachment, more and more accepted and loved by dentists and patients. Function, aesthetics, safety and the reporter found that, in fact, the magnet mounted on the denture is only the size of a grain of rice, it can really give toothless patients free from the misery of loose dentures? Professor Ye Jiantao explained: “Although the magnets are small, but each one has a suction force of 600 ~ 800 grams, is considered to be the world’s largest magnet and design per unit volume. It generally takes 2~3 pounds of force also to remove a set of dentures from the mouth. It is reported that the “magnetic attachment denture” in addition to strong retention, it has the following outstanding advantages: First, “magnetic attachment denture” without complex metal ring device, simple construction, easy to remove and wear. Many patients have experienced that removable dentures are sometimes difficult to take off and put on, especially in the elderly, where finger dexterity is a bit poor, and the design of the denture can take several minutes to remove or put in. The wrong direction of force or the use of brute force can also cause trauma to their teeth. Therefore, for the elderly, especially those with poor finger dexterity or post-stroke sequelae, you can choose magnetic dentures for removable denture repair, which are easier to put in and take out while ensuring better suction. Secondly, loose teeth and residual roots and crowns can take advantage of the small lateral force of magnetic attachments on the roots without extraction. The retained roots are covered under the dentures, which can slow down the resorption of alveolar bone, retain the sensitivity and effectiveness of chewing, and also conduct the physiological stimulation to the brain during chewing, which is beneficial to health. It avoids the inconvenience of extracting all the loose teeth and rotten roots of some patients and then making full dentures. Don’t pull teeth easily, and magnetic attachments can turn loose teeth and rotten roots into treasure by using them effectively. In addition, patients wearing removable dentures are often equipped with some “metal hooks” that play a role in retention, even in positions visible to the open mouth, which seriously affects the aesthetics, while magnetic attachments can replace metal rings, making dentures more beautiful. In addition, the magnetic attachment denture structure is simple, so cleaning and maintenance can be done easily. In addition, the magnet and armature of the magnetic denture are designed with a closed circuit magnetic field, so there is no leakage of magnetic force, which has been strictly tested during the development process and will not cause any harm to human body. The armature mounted on the root of the tooth itself is not magnetic, its role is equivalent to that of a nail, only when it touches the magnet will it attract each other. And the magnet installed in the denture base is not worn 24 hours a day, movable dentures are not worn at night. So patients do not have to have the worry that magnetic things in the mouth will be detrimental to health. Don’t take “rotten tooth roots” as waste Despite the benefits of magnetic attachments, there is still a lot to be said for using them. Yuan, a manager in Dongguan City, Guangdong, 45 years old, ten years ago because of serious dental caries for the whole mouth fixed dental implants, not long, the implants have all festered, crumbling, the whole mouth is left only ten rotten roots. Originally, he wanted to pull out the rotten roots and get a set of dentures, but he didn’t expect Professor Ye Jiantao, who received him, to treat the rotten roots as a treasure and gave him two treatment plans: one is to pull out all the roots and then implant the whole mouth with teeth, which costs about 100,000 yuan and takes one year to complete. The other option is to use “magnetic attachment denture”, which does not require tooth extraction, but can be embedded in the treated tooth roots with magnets, assembling a set of dentures with good retention, about 20,000 pieces, completed in a month. Manager Yuan chose the second option. The doctor then embedded 7 small magnets as big as a grain of rice in the roots of his upper 4 lower 3, and he had little discomfort after the denture assembly was completed. It is reported that many patients who are fitted with traditional removable dentures will feel uncomfortable and will return to the hospital for a review in less than two or three days. Manager Yuan, on the other hand, was reviewed only a month later, and he dragged the doctors and nurses to eat hairy crabs together at noon that day, “and he ate faster than anyone else!” Professor Ye Jiantao said with satisfaction. But manager Yuan brought his friend Xiaozhan was not so lucky! Due to previous toothache in the local doctor’s advice gradually pulled all the teeth in the mouth, a root is not left, assembled traditional dentures are very loose, Ye Jiantao look after shaking his head. He believes that a full mouth with most teeth missing and multiple strong roots left behind is the best indication for a magnetic denture. Without remaining teeth or roots, only implants can be placed in the jawbone as artificial roots (dental implants) and then magnetic attachments, which requires more cost and treatment time. Jiantao Ye said, “Some doctors and patients easily remove the few teeth and roots left in the mouth, making long-term retention and stability of the denture a challenge. A root of sufficient length that does not loosen is a treasure if it is well utilized. In our clinical work, we often see many patients who do not want to cut off the crowns (i.e., saw off the teeth and leave the roots) of the teeth that are not strong, but still use the traditional retaining rings, which are conspicuous and unsightly, and the rings have a shaking lateral force on the remaining teeth when they are worn and chewed, which can easily lead to premature loosening or even loss of the few remaining teeth. The roots are too loose.” According to the report, if there are only a few unstable teeth left in the whole mouth, taking a crown to make a magnetic denture can also protect the roots and provide retention for the denture for a longer period of time. Because the magnet is fixed, the denture will automatically dislocate when subjected to harmful forces, providing a gentle protection of the roots. Head and facial malignant tumor patients should not be used It is reported that since the magnetic attachment technology was made public in the media, many middle-aged and elderly people came to the hospital with newspapers asking for such dentures, for example, to Professor Ye Jiantao’s hospital has about ten such patients every day, but actually only three or four people suitable for doing. This is why? Professor Ye Jiantao reminded readers that clinical experience shows that the mastery of indications is very important, as the root of the magnetic attachment, the general requirements for the length of the bone is greater than 8 mm, looseness within the first degree, after a perfect root canal treatment, no periodontitis. In addition, because artifacts will appear at the magnet and form pseudo lesions when MRI is done. Therefore, patients with malignant tumors of the head and face who need frequent MRI before and after surgery should not have a magnetic denture. According to the report, the cost of magnetic attachment denture is higher than that of ordinary denture, so many patients are also discouraged. Magnetic attachments can be used in a single jaw from 1 to 4, the more the denture retains the greater the retention force, and the dispersed distribution is better than the centralized retention force. At present, there are different brands of such products at home and abroad, the price of a pair of magnets is about two thousand dollars, plus supporting treatment and denture, assembly of dentures containing two pairs of magnets will require about five thousand dollars. Therefore, the magnetic denture should be examined by a professional physician to determine whether the patient is suitable for magnetic denture, and the correct design and operation should be performed by a physician skilled in this technology in order to achieve the expected results. For patients who have a magnetic denture, the movable denture with magnets should be removed during the MRI of the head and face to avoid affecting its accuracy. In addition, special attention should be paid to oral hygiene. The area around the armature on the root of the tooth must be brushed after each meal to prevent inflammation of the gums around the armature, and regular follow-up examinations should be performed. Do you belong to the 1%? During the interview, the reporter met a female patient who came to consult the “magnetic attachment denture”. She told the reporter her sorrowful history: “In 1988, I had bleeding gums, but I thought it was normal and didn’t take it seriously, and I didn’t have time to take care of it because I was working in a factory. It was not until I lost two incisors in 1999 that I learned I had periodontitis when I went to the doctor. Then the situation became so serious that it became unbearable, and the left side of the lower jaw lost one and the right side lost two more. But the teeth hooked by the metal hooks also began to loosen, and a few days ago the teeth in the lower jaw suddenly broke off, and now there are only three teeth left above, one below, and two roots.” She pointed to her teeth and said, couldn’t help but shed tears, said aggressively, “Last year I deliberately bought a 39 yuan toothpaste to brush my teeth, but it didn’t even work, the doctor said the dentures can be resistant to 10 years, but it’s not even 5 years …… hey… …” But because her teeth and roots are already very loose, periodontitis is serious, Ye Jiantao said to take pictures to determine whether you can do magnetic attachments. Ye Jiantao also suggested that “the public should also raise awareness of dental protection, dental problems can not have a get-it-done mentality, do not wait until the need to remedy when it is too late.” The dental health standards set by the World Health Organization are: clean teeth, no cavities, no pain, normal gum color, and no bleeding. According to the statistics of the health department, less than 1% of the population in China meets the standard of dental health. Maybe you are in this 1%? The reporter believes that even good dentures are not as good as your own teeth, a good sound teeth not only can make “good appetite, eat well, body times better”, teeth also have a close relationship with a variety of systemic diseases. Please pay attention to your teeth!