Can a denture look natural?

Full dentures can provide a patient with a natural cosmetic result, although sometimes it requires a team effort with a dental laboratory to achieve the optimum result. The technician setting up the denture doesn't have a patient's lips in front of him when he is creating his denture set up. Often denture teeth are placed too far out off the alveolar ridge so that when the denture is worn the teeth appear too prominent. If necessary the dentist may have to ask the technician to grind the backs of the teeth in order to allow them to be set up closer to the patient's alveolar ridge.

It is up to the dentist to try a denture in while the teeth are set in wax in order to verify that the setup is pleasing and that the teeth are correctly positioned. Also teeth should be arranged with some variations in orientation and position and should not be over aligned since this can provide an artificial look. Natural teeth have some variations in their alignment and this must be evident in a denture set up in order for it to look natural. It doesn't take much variation to be esthetic, but there should be some.

This concept is true for all cosmetic restorations,porcelain veneers included. Too much symmetry can lead to a static and unflattering presentation that can create a look that might be incorrectly termed "the denture look" where every tooth is exactly and ideally placed so that the overall result is too perfect and looks artificial.