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ORAL SURGERY & PERIODONTICS BLOG

The Latest on Dental Health, Dental Implants, Periodontics, Oral Surgery and More

Two Ways You Can Get Implant Dentures

Let’s imagine for a moment that you have traditional dentures.

Let’s further imagine that you’ve had them for several years. In that time, you’ve had your dentures refitted multiple times.

You have grown frustrated with the limitations of dentures. The reason you’ve needed to have them refitted is because they become less comfortable with time, and this also seems to make them more likely to come loose.

You also miss eating certain foods. You don’t have the same power behind your bite that you had before you lost your teeth, and this just makes it too difficult to bite and chew some things.

You’ve talked to your dentist about what can be done, and you’ve learned about implant-supported dentures. This means you will need dental implants placed in your mouth.

Now, it’s a matter of getting your implants so you can put your days of loose fitting dentures and a weak bite behind you.

At North Shore Smile Surgery, we have done thousands of implant placement procedures for patients in and around Buffalo Grove, Chicago, and nearby communities in Illinois.

We know how life-changing this can be, but we also know that it’s not always as simple as people would like.

 

Why You May Not Be Able To Get Implants

Without question, dental implants are one of the best innovations in modern dentistry. These titanium root replacements have made dental crowns, dental bridges, and dentures more stable and secure.

One of the benefits of dental implants is that they help to keep your jaw healthy and strong. The interaction between your implants and your jawbone leads to new bone tissue growth. This is the same kind of interaction that took place between your jaw and the roots of your teeth before your teeth were lost.

When you don’t replace the roots, your jawbone will start to lose mass and density. If you have traditional dentures, you have only replaced the crowns of your teeth. As your jaw gets smaller, this affects the shape of your mouth. That affects the fit of your dentures, and that explains why your dentures may have to be refitted from time to time.

This also affects your ability to get dental implants. Implants are placed directly into your jawbone … as long as you have enough bone to support them.

 

Rebuilding Your Jawbone

If you have lost too much bone mass, standard dental implants aren’t going to fit unless you can rebuild your jaw.

The way we do this is with a bone graft. A bone graft involves transplanting bone tissue into your mouth.

The transplanted tissue may be taken from another part of your body, or it may come from a tissue donor.

As you recover from this procedure, your existing bone and the transplanted bone tissue will grow together. This will give your jaw the needed mass to support a series of dental implants.

At that point, you will be able to get the implant-supported dentures that you want.

 

Going Small For Big Results

There is another way to get the benefits of dental implants without a bone graft.

Mini implants have a smaller diameter than standard implants. As a result, mini implants can fit in bone tissue that cannot support standard implants.

This may save you the step of getting a bone graft and the months of recovery before you can get your implants. Instead, you may be able to move forward with your mini implant placement.

The good news is that mini implants can be used to do the same things as standard implants.

If you are missing a single tooth, a mini implant can support a dental crown. If you are missing multiple teeth, mini implants can add stability to your dental bridge.

And if you are missing all your teeth, then a series of mini implants can be placed in a way to add strength and security to your dentures.

With this said, you still need a certain amount of bone mass to support mini implants. The longer you wait to replace the roots of your missing teeth, the more bone mass you will lose.

If you are considering implant dentures, we would encourage you to act sooner rather than later so the procedure will be easier for you.

 

Don’t Give Up Hope

When you first learn about implant dentures, it can be uplifting to find out how they can improve your experience with dentures. It also can be discouraging to learn that you may not be able to get those dental implants.

We want you to stay hopeful. You can still get your implant dentures with a bone graft or with mini implants from North Shore Smile Surgery.

If you live in or near Buffalo Grove, contact us online or call 847-276-2500 to make an appointment with our dentist. This will give you a chance to ask any questions you have and to figure out whether a bone graft or mini implants is the right option for you.

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