If you are one of the many people out there who think dentures are a replacement for natural teeth, you may be interested to know that we disagree. While dentures do function as teeth for a person who has lost his or her natural teeth, they are not replacement teeth. Dentures are, in most cases, simply an alternative to no teeth.
What’s wrong with dentures?
Dentures are artificial gums and teeth that fit over your gums and are held in place by suction. They are supported on your gums, which were never designed for this purpose.
In most cases, initially, both upper and lower dentures stay in pretty well. But, even if the denture is made with exceptional attention to detail and has a perfect fit, one can expect to have only 25% of the biting force of natural teeth.
If that was not bad enough, very often nature plays a nasty trick on the denture wearer. That’s because you need tooth-on-tooth contact to keep the bone which supports your teeth healthy. Without it, as is the case with dentures, this bone, or “ridge” begins to dissolve. Consequently, the surface area of the bone and gum, which support the denture, diminishes and the denture become less and less stable. The denture wearer may not even notice this as the bone loss is gradual, and the wearer just adapts to the changes as they slowly progress.
Dental implants can create a more secure denture
Dental implants are titanium posts that are surgically implanted into your jawbone. As the jawbone heals around them, they actually become part of your body. Implants stop the loss of bone and allow placement of a restoration that will restore function very close to that of natural teeth.
The replacement of a lower denture with a fixed implant supported restoration is fairly straightforward today. Even in cases where there is severe bone destruction, almost every lower denture wearer could have multiple dental implants and a lower restoration placed that was permanent and not removable.
The replacement of the upper teeth with implants is possible also, though somewhat more involved as the gums on the top shrink back and up, there are more aesthetic concerns, speech is involved and there are sinuses which sometimes get in the way. Even if a fixed restoration is not possible, an implant-supported restoration is still available which would not cover the roof of the mouth the way a denture does.
A secure fit equals a happier patient
When your denture fits securely, it is more likely you’ll be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of being able to chew what you want with comfort and confidence. In our experience, this translates to happy people.
If you would like to learn more about dental implants and implant supported dentures, please schedule a consultation with Red Deer dentist Dr Saby.