Why should you get denture implants?

You could be a perfect candidate for dental implant supported dentures if your current dentures are:

• Unstable
• Hurting
• Uncomfortable
• Coming loose when you eat or talk
• Requiring a fixative to remain in place
• Restricting your taste
• Making you gag
• Too bulky
• Making your face look older or ‘sunken’

Implant supported dentures are complete acrylic dentures that clip onto dental implants which solidly sit in your gums much like natural teeth. This can be such that the denture is removable by the patient, or fixed and only removable by a dentist. They are very successful at eliminating or greatly reducing the above problems.

1. Stability – dental implant-supported dentures are very solid and stable in your mouth like your natural teeth would be. The mechanism of attachment (indirectly to your jaw bone through the dental implant screw) allows for only the natural minimum movement and flexion that would be expected with real teeth.
2. Comfort – dental implant-supported dentures don’t require a strong retentive grip around your gums for support as they gain their retention from the underlying implants. Because of this they are much less likely to rub or cause sores.
3. Retentive – dental implant-supported dentures have a unique mechanism of attachment, mimicking the way natural teeth are kept in place. It is because of this that dental-implant-supported dentures are very stable during eating or talking, and will only be removed through a technique that your dentist will teach you. Because of this conversation and chewing will be much more natural and pleasant.
4. Fixatives – dental implant-supported dentures do not require any gluey, unpleasant fixative to keep them in place because of the successful fastening with the underlying implants.
5. Taste – dental implant-supported dentures are much less likely to restrict your taste as it is not necessary to have material covering the majority of the palate as retention is gained mechanically from the dental implants. The less tissue covered, the more naturally you will be able to taste; this is a huge advantage of dental implant-supported dentures.
6. Gagging – dental implant-supported dentures are unlikely to make you gag as they don’t take up as much room in the mouth as traditional dentures, which require a larger amount of material to keep them in place.
7. Bulky – dental implant-supported dentures are often less bulky than traditional dentures as retention is gained through attachment to dental implants and not through the addition of extra dental material.
8. Anti-aging – when dental implants are placed into the mouth the bone around them attaches, greatly reducing the chances of bone recession, which happens naturally in the absence of teeth. It is because of this that the presence of dental implants can prevent the face from appearing ‘sunken’ as most dental bone is maintained, which is integral for a natural face shape and profile. Furthermore, as bone height is maintained, the likelihood of needing denture adjustments reduces which results in long-term, comfortable dentures.

Two options are available at Scott Arms Dental Practice for dental implant-retained dentures and each come with their own significant advantages:

Locators: These types of dentures fasten into place over a number of single, discrete implants. This works much like press-studs on items of clothes and is often the desirable option when patients like to minimise the feeling of a prosthesis in their mouth, as only a thin later of acrylic is needed to support the denture.

Milled-bar with clips: Dental implants are placed in the same way as locators, yet they are splinted together by a metal bar onto which the denture attaches. Though this option is slightly bulkier it is easily tolerated by most people and provides a more even load across all dental implants and even better retention.