What is a Locator Attachment?
Having your smile restored with dental implants is one of the best ways to ensure the overall health of not only your teeth and gum tissue, but the jaw bone as well. The structural integrity of the jawbone is maintained by the roots of our teeth which stimulate the regeneration of osteoblast cells and prevent bone deterioration.
Having dental implants placed is a long process so it is important to make sure that you are healthy and can endure placement surgery and any additional surgeries that you may require to prepare your mouth for the implants, such as a bone graft. Your dental specialist will evaluate the area to be treated to determine if you have sufficient bone structure. If you do not, they will place a bone graft that will need to heal before the implant can be placed. Once the implant is placed, you will need up to six months of healing time before the implant can be restored.
A dental implant is made up of three parts: the implant, an abutment, and an implant crown or other implant restoration. If you are having a locator denture placed, a locator abutment will be used instead of a traditional implant abutment. The abutment is the connecting piece between a dental implant and the implant denture but with locator dentures, there is one more piece to the puzzle: locator attachments.
How are locator attachments placed?
The dental implant is surgically placed into your jaw bone by an oral surgeon before your dentist uses a locator abutment and attachment to secure your denture onto the implant. The locator abutment is connected to the dental implant like an abutment screw and locator attachments are replaceable nylon pieces that are incorporated into the removable denture and snap into place over the locator abutment.
The denture itself is made of an acrylic base that is tinted to match the patient’s gum tissue and this is where the locator attachments are placed, on the underside of the denture base. Locator attachments will wear out simply from daily hygiene and maintenance but they are easily replaced. A locator denture is comfortable and stable and has the added advantage of being removable for easy cleaning!
Dental implants are a great way to restore missing teeth and renew your smile! If you have a significant number of missing teeth it is worth the discussion with your dentist to see if you are a candidate for dental implants and a locator denture. There are other replacement options available but dental implants and their corresponding restoration are by far the best!