I finally have dental insurance. I’ve been working on getting my gums back to health. I’ve had advanced periodontal disease for a bit now, which has caused me to lose eight teeth. I have dentures right now, but really want to get dental implants. Is this possible?
Larry
Dear Larry,
You have made a great choice in wanting dental implants. They are far superior to dentures for several reasons:
- They return your chewing capacity. Even the best fitting dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. With dental implants anchored to your dentures (called implant overdentures) you will be able to once again be able to eat anything you want.
- Implant supported dentures do not move around. You will never have to worry about them moving or falling out.
- They prevent facial collpase
Dentures and Facial Collapse
When your teeth were first removed, your body recognized that you no longer have teeth roots that need to be supported. As a result, it begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body. While it does this in an effort to be as efficient as possible with your body’s resources, it has the unfortunate effect of shrinking your jawbone. After ten years, you will no longer be able to keep your dentures in place. Eventually, you won’t be able to wear them at all because your jawbone has virtually disappeared. This is known as facial collapse. Not only does it make it impossible for you to have teeth, but it also ages your appearance by decades.
Getting Dental Implants After Dentures
Once your gum disease is under control, you should be able to get dental implants. There is a possibility, depending on how much bone you have already lost, that you may need to have a bone grafting procedure done. This is because you need plenty of healthy bone to integrate with the implants. Without that, the procedure will fail. Once that is completed, you should be good to go.
This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.
