Do I Have To Choose Between Dental Implants and Dentures?

For individuals dissatisfied with traditional dentures, dental implants provide an appealing alternative for restoring missing teeth and achieving a natural-looking smile. Dental implants can still be a viable option despite concerns about eligibility due to prior denture use. Let’s explore the potential for enhancing your denture experience with dental implants.

Dentures, while a longstanding solution for tooth loss, may pose challenges such as discomfort, speech difficulties, and a less-than-natural appearance. If you’re seeking alternatives and considering dental implants, it’s important to understand how these two options can work together to provide improved support and comfort.

Understanding Dental Implants

Dental implants represent a modern dental innovation designed to replace missing teeth effectively. This procedure involves the placement of a titanium screw into the jawbone, leading to osseointegration – a crucial fusion process that ensures unparalleled support and strength for the prosthetic tooth.

The Dental Implant Process

Before proceeding with dental implants, an evaluation by a periodontist is necessary to assess your candidacy. This involves examining oral health, including gum tissue health and bone density. Upon confirmation of eligibility, the implant process begins with the fusion of the titanium screw to the jawbone, a process lasting three to six months. Following osseointegration, the replacement tooth is affixed by connecting an abutment to the screw and attaching the restoration.

Modern advancements in dental techniques have minimized discomfort and recovery time associated with implant procedures, making them a minimally invasive option with a swift recovery period.

Versatile Implant Options

Dental implants offer versatile solutions for restoring your smile, catering to various needs:

Single Dental Implant: Ideal for an individual missing tooth, providing strength, stability, and a natural appearance while stimulating bone growth.
Implant-Supported Bridge: Addresses multiple consecutive missing teeth in a single procedure, utilizing implants as anchors for a dental bridge.
Implant-Supported Dentures: Replaces several or an entire row of missing teeth with strategically placed implants, offering maximum denture support.

Building a Strong Foundation for Dental Implants

While dental implants can significantly improve denture-related concerns, individuals with dentures may potentially lose bone density over time. The absence of tooth roots, which stimulate bone growth, can lead to reduced bone density.

In these cases, individuals may need to restore lost bone density through a bone graft procedure. This involves grafting healthy bone onto lower-density areas, enabling the jaw to rebuild and eventually support an implant. Although the bone graft procedure may extend the overall implant process, the benefits of dental implants make the additional time worthwhile.

Learn More About Dental Implants and Dentures

If you’re considering transitioning from dentures to dental implants, consult the Periodontal Associates blog for more insights into tooth replacement options. Discover how dental implants enhance your smile and provide lasting comfort and support.