Dental Implants vs. Dentures
Many people with missing teeth wear partial dentures or conventional full dentures and are unhappy with them. Lower dentures don’t fit or feel like natural teeth. They often become looser and move around due to shrinking bone and gum tissue, which irritates the mouth, causing sores, pain and difficulty in chewing. Lower dentures may restrict your ability to talk and eat the same way you did with your natural teeth. Dentures tend to have only about 1/5 the chewing power which limits your chewing ability. Often denture wearers need to use messy adhesives to improve the fit but they can never provide the stability and confidence an implant stabilized denture can, not to mention how it affects the taste of your food.
Upper dentures are easier to wear because of the suction along the roof of the mouth that helps to keep the denture in place. But having the palate covered reduces the taste and enjoyment of foods that you are eating. Chewing and talking may still be difficult, often resulting in sores and pain. By supporting your upper denture with either the mini implants or traditional dental implants you can totally eliminate the need to cover the palate. This can allow a much more natural feel to the upper denture while dramatically enhancing it’s stability and your ability to taste the foods you enjoy. Removable dentures may slip or cause embarrassing clicking sounds while eating or speaking which may cause removable denture wearers to shy away from enjoying meals with friends.
Dental implants may greatly reduce or even eliminate many of the issues associated with dentures since they provide so much more support, confidence and stability and allow you to speak, eat and care for your teeth more naturally.
Many people who are missing a single tooth or a group of several teeth opt for a permanent bridge. Wearing a dental bridge often requires shaving off portions of healthy, neighboring teeth.
While this has traditionally been one of the nicer ways to replace missing teeth, dental implants provide a nicer option and may also help save or preserve healthy teeth. Using a tooth to support a bridge causes increased stress on each tooth since it must support and bear the additional pressure and stress from the missing teeth. If the teeth on either side of the space are in good shape, we would need to shave down a healthy tooth which many of our patients find objectionable. A dental implant can allow us to restore the missing area naturally and beautifully without damaging the teeth on either side of the space. By not preparing those teeth, it greatly enhances the life of those teeth and reduces the risk of root canals and other stress-related problems.
Even the finest, most beautiful dental bridge may need to be replaced at least once in your lifetime, increasing your cost. Dental implants can often be considered a lifetime restoration as they are one of the most successful and durable dental procedures with a 95% long term success rate. Dental implants also actually stimulate the bone and help to preserve underlying bone structure, which supports your face and can help to prevent wrinkles and premature aging.