It is a fact that dental implants can act as strong anchors to your old denture, making it solid as a rock when you chew food, speak, or even laugh loudly. Finally, you can have the smile of your dreams, without being afraid that your denture might fall or move. Say farewell to embarrassment and welcome your new look.
But why are dentists considering implant-retained dentures as a breakthrough in prosthodontics? What are the benefits of an implant supported denture over your old standard denture?
The following table can summarize the main differences between both dentures:
Implant denture
The main support of implant denture lies in the fact that it is inserted in the entire length of bony ridge, definitely, there is no use of dental adhesives.
The fitting surface of an implant-retained denture is provided with specific attachments that rapidly fit the attachments on the implants like key and lock (known as precision attachment or male and female attachment).
Dentists highly recommend an implant supported denture in the edentulous mandibular area.
Mainly, two special dental implants are inserted in the anterior region of the lower jaw to give the needed support for lower denture.
Of course, you can have an implant supported denture in both: upper and lower jaws.
Standard denture
Standard Denture
As your ordinary denture is placed directly on your gingiva, its only support comes from the height of your alveolar ridge, so adding denture adhesives is mandatory to enhance stability and retention of your denture.
Usually, maxillary complete denture is more stable than mandibular denture, because the height of lower alveolar ridge is small, depriving mandibular denture from needed stability. Besides, due to continuous bone remodeling process, there is massive bone resorption in lower alveolar ridge of elderly people, in some cases; the height of lower alveolar bone is completely missed.
If you really favor removable dental prosthesis, then as a dentist, I highly recommend you to consider having your dental prosthesis supported with implants, to experience the benefits of such an efficient prosthesis; functionally and esthetically.
