At Southgate Dental we take care to provide you with natural-looking dentures that are individually handcrafted to provide you with the perfect fit, feel and function. With new confidence in your smile, you can eat the foods you love and laugh whenever you feel like it.
Providing an exceptional level of care and attention, we will work closely with your needs to create and fit the dentures that are right for you. By understanding your preferences and the end result you would like to achieve, we will help you achieve an appearance that makes you look and feel more youthful.
We use all the latest materials to provide a denture that is best suited to you, including the use of flexible dentures and implant retained dentures.
An implant-supported denture is a type of overdenture that is supported by and attached to implants. A regular denture rests on the gums, and is not supported by implants.
An implant-supported denture is used when a person doesn't have any teeth in the jaw, but has enough bone in the jaw to support implants. An implant-supported denture has special attachments that snap onto attachments on the implants.
Implant-supported dentures usually are made for the lower jaw because regular dentures tend to be less stable there. Usually, a regular denture made to fit an upper jaw is quite stable on its own and doesn't need the extra support offered by implants. However, you can receive an implant-supported denture in either the upper or lower jaw.
How Does It Work?
There are two types of implant-supported dentures: bar-retained and ball-retained. In both cases, the denture will be made of an acrylic base that will look like gums. Porcelain or acrylic teeth that look like natural teeth are attached to the base. Both types of dentures need at least two implants for support.
- Bar-retained dentures — A thin metal bar that follows the curve of your jaw is attached to two to five implants that have been placed in your jawbone. Clips or other types of attachments are fitted to the bar, the denture or both. The denture fits over the bar and is securely clipped into place by the attachments.
- Ball-retained dentures (stud-attachment dentures) — Each implant in the jawbone holds a metal attachment that fits into another attachment on the denture. In most cases, the attachments on the implants are ball-shaped ("male" attachments), and they fit into sockets ("female" attachments) on the denture. In some cases, the denture holds the male attachments and the implants hold the female ones.
The most important consideration in your decision to choose an implant overdenture or implant denture is the limited retention and stability of a traditional denture which relies on suction alone. Over time, retention only worsens due to continual bone loss (atrophy) of your dental arches from the lack of teeth. When a tooth loses bone support through the years, its root can be saved and used to anchor an implant overdenture. The significant concerns regarding function, retention, stability, mastication (chewing), and speaking can be overcome by maintaining the level of bone present in the upper jaw (maxilla) and lower jaw (mandible).
What are the benefits of implant overdentures or implant dentures?
1. Having dental implants placed will preserve bone and will dramatically reduce bone resorption and deterioration that results in loss of jawbone height.
2. Implant overdentures will control facial contour changes that lead to premature wrinkles and aging.
3. Implant overdentures will allow you to chew your food better and speak more clearly. Studies have proven that overdentures contribute to improved chewing efficiency and phonetics.
4. Loose dentures that cause embarrassment will be eliminated. Messy denture creams and adhesives are no longer needed with denture implants.
