Dental implants are a viable option no matter how many teeth need to be replaced. If you’ve lost all the teeth in your upper or lower arch, all it will take is a few dental implants and a customized denture to fill in the space so that you can keep eating, speaking, and smiling to the best of your ability. Here at LaGrange Oral Surgery & Implant Center, Dr. Jacobs is proud to offer implant dentures for extensive tooth loss; schedule a consultation today to see if this is the right choice for restoring your smile.
Traditional dentures sit on your gums or are attached to your natural teeth via metal clasps. Implant dentures, on the other hand, are anchored to biocompatible screw-shaped posts placed in your jaw. Once the posts join with the bone via osseointegration, they can mimic the functions of natural tooth roots. As a result, your new teeth will look and feel much like your original ones. The type of implant denture we recommend depends on your needs and preferences:
A fixed denture is permanently anchored to the dental implant posts and is only removed by your dentist. This type of denture requires about 4 to 6 posts, so you’ll need to have a certain level of jawbone density to be considered a candidate for the treatment.
Also known as an “overdenture” or “Snap-On denture”, removable implant dentures are held in place with clips or ball sockets, letting you take them out at any time. They require fewer implant posts than implant dentures, meaning less jawbone density is required.
The first step is to prepare for the implant process. This might involve extracting any remaining teeth or performing bone grafting to make sure that there’s plenty of bone density in your jaw to support the posts. Once we’re sure that your oral structures are ready, we can move forward with implant surgery. The implant posts will be inserted into the jaw at carefully chosen locations. A protective cap will be placed on each post to protect them during osseointegration.
Once the implant posts have a strong bond with the jaw, abutments can be attached to the implants. Then impressions will be taken so that the final denture can be designed. The last step is to attach the prosthetic to your implants during one final appointment.
Dentures are recommended for anyone who has lost all or most of the teeth in one arch. If you’d like your dentures to be supported by implants, you must have:
