You’ve lost a few of your teeth and are told by your dentist that should consider dentures. Your heart sinks as you think about the false teeth, the gooey adhesives, the nightly cleaning. You're thinking that traditional dentures are your only option.
Did you know there are different kinds of
dentures?
Yes, those traditional dentures are still around, but have you heard about implant retain dentures?
Implant Retain Dentures
Denture technology has come a long way since the advent of those traditional dentures. There are now implant retain dentures. These dentures are called many different names, including implant supported dentures, and all-on-four dentures. These dentures are anchored to the mouth by dental implants.
As you probably have guessed, these dentures provide a much more secure fit and are more comfortable to wear.
These dentures are recommended for dental patients who are missing many teeth, but who have enough bone mass to support the implants. If one’s jawbone is too weak for implants, traditional dentures will be recommended.
Implant dentures are usually placed on only the lower jaw as it is the lower denture of traditional dentures that are less secure than those on the upper jaw. While most dental patients have implant dentures on the bottom jaw and traditional dentures on the upper jaw, implant dentures can be applied to both the upper and lower jaws. This is the case with all-on-four dentures where four dental implants (two on the upper jaw and two on the bottom) are used to support the dentures on both upper and lower jaws.
How Do Implant Retained Dentures Work?
Dental implants are metal (usually titanium) screws drilled into the jaw. Patients who require crowns or bridges often get implants with tooth-like crowns on top of the implants.
For implant retained dentures, there are fittings on top of them that connect to the appropriate fittings on the base of the denture. There are two kinds of implant retained dentures, each one having a different way of attaching the dentures to the implants: ball-retained dentures and bar-retained dentures.
Ball-retained implant supported dentures involve a ball and socket fitting whereby the ball part of the dentures snap into the socket part of the implant.
Bar-retained implant supported dentures have a narrow bar that lines the inside of the jaw and is attached to the implants. The denture goes over the bar and is fastened to the bar via clips.
While implant supported dentures are more secure and don’t need to be taken out to eat certain foods, they still need to be taken out at night and cleaned.
Traditional Dentures
Some dental patients still prefer the traditional dentures. These dentures fit over the gums and less secure than implant-retained dentures. These dentures can easily get loose and come out. Their loose fit also makes them more uncomfortable to wear than implant-retained dentures.
While traditional dentures are less expensive, they provide less support, comfort and security and they tend to need replacing more often than implant-retained dentures.
Both traditional and implant-retained dentures need to be taken out and cleansed every night. Your gums also need to be cleaned daily as well regardless of what type of denture you use.
Grove City Dental offers patients the option of either implant retained dentures or traditional dentures.
Contact us today to set up an appointment and we’ll help you decide which option is best for you.
