Full dentures are usually the easiest and quickest way to restore an edentulous (toothless) jaw. Generally, not only are full dentures the cheapest option if you are missing most or all of your teeth, but they are also the quickest way to restore your smile your ability to eat solid food. Full dentures are made of gum-colored plastic in which plastic teeth are anchored. The hold is created by suction forces, for which the saliva film between the palate and the denture is responsible. The palatal plate of the dentures covers the entire palate and the chewing bar in the upper jaw, while the contact surface in the lower jaw is significantly smaller. The mobility of the tongue takes up a lot of space with dentures, so that a full denture in the lower jaw is generally looser than in the upper jaw. A fixation on implants can help here. During the manufacture and adaptation of the dental prosthesis, special emphasis is placed on ensuring that the dental prosthesis does not make speaking difficult and that the chewing function is restored. Of course, it is also important not to recognize the denture as such, which is why a lot of emphasis is placed on aesthetics. Full dentures are mostly made of biocompatible plastic.
Problems with full dentures
Oftentimes, eating with the removable dentures is not comfortable. Additionally, you might experience loss of jawbone mass if you are using full dentures, leading to discomfort and an aesthetic of your face with which you are uncomfortable. If you are experiencing these problems with your removable dentures, and are looking for an alternative, you might talk to your dentist about implant-supported dentures, which offer significantly more support and long-term comfort.
What are implant-supported dentures?
Implant-supported dentures are when a dental implant, which is an artificial tooth root, is used as a fastening anchor for full or partial dentures. For this purpose, the dentist or implantologist, as a specialist in dental implants, implants a screw into the jawbone, which then acts as an artificial root and forms a supporting pillar for the denture. This screw made of titanium or ceramic is flush with the gums and is not visible. The new tooth root is then firmly connected to the tooth crown or denture, which is made in the dental laboratory using a connecting piece, the so-called abutment.
What are the requirements for using implant-supported dentures?
The jawbone must have a minimum volume so that the dental implant can be placed so that it can then heal firmly. If this is not the case, the dentist can use various procedures to rebuild the bone to provide permanent support for the implant crown. Generally, these procedures involve bone grafts. The therapeutic measures for bone formation and the healing time for the artificial root can take several months. During this time, the patient usually wears a long-term temporary bridge in order alleviate any social anxiety that might come from missing teeth.
What materials are available for implants and implant crowns?
Implant-supported crowns are part of fixed dentures, which at the same time provide an aesthetic and functional purpose and are suitable for every age group. The artificial tooth roots are usually made of titanium or ceramic. For the artifical tooth part of an implant (the part that people see as your tooth), a gold alloy with a high gold content or all-ceramic can also be used. It also depends on the area of the mouth in which the crown is to be inserted and the workload it is exposed to.
Advantages and other possible uses of implant crowns
Implants have the great advantage of preventing bone loss by not supplying a tooth gap, because they have a positive effect on bone formation and bone maintenance. In addition, the healthy tooth substance of neighboring teeth is spared, because these do not have to be prepared or ground in order to place an implant crown, like they do with a traditional bridge. If several teeth are lost or even a completely toothless jaw, several implant crowns can be permanently attached to only a few dental implants as a bridge. Implantologists have different implant concepts for the lower and upper jaw, in which four, six or eight implants are placed. The all-on-4™ concept and the all-on-6 concept and all-on-8 concept are used.
Types of implant-supported dentures
Bridge on Dental Implants
Dental bridges that are attached to an implant on at least one side instead of a natural abutment tooth can be referred to as bridges on implants. If the dental bridge is designed in such a way that only dental implants serve as pillars, one speaks of an implant bridge. If both your own teeth and implants serve as pillars, the bridge construction is called a hybrid bridge.
Partial dentures
Partial dentures are used when several teeth are missing and are an alternative to large dental bridges. They are attached to implants in your gums. The big difference between dentures and bridges is that dental bridges are firmly anchored, while dentures contain removable elements. Partial dentures are affixed to the jaw using a single or double implant post. The use of partial dentures are a way of replacing many missing teeth in a row without doing a singular implant for each missing teeth. Because there is less surgery, partial dentures represent a generally more cost-effective solution to singular implants for each missing tooth, and are generally associated with less time in surgery and less healing time.
Implant-supported full dentures
Implant-supported full dentures consist of a firmly connected artificial row of teeth, which are anchored by means of special brackets. It is implant-supported and removable. Dental prostheses that are attached to implants are also known as implant prostheses. This complex type of dental prosthesis is used when, firstly, several teeth in a row of teeth have been lost and, secondly, a dental bridge has been eliminated as an alternative. There are different forms of implant-supported prostheses. Essentially, these are the push-button prosthesis (locator prosthesis), the bar prosthesis, and the telescopic prosthesis. These differ essentially in the way the prosthesis is anchored to the implants: They are either fastened with press studs, bars or telescopic crowns (conical crowns). In addition, full dentures can be attached with the help of mini implants and therefore belong to the group of dental implant prostheses.
There are pros and cons of each of the different ways of replacing missing teeth; talk to your dentist about what options are available to you and what would be best in your particular case.