At Cross Dental it is our objective to preserve your natural teeth if at all possible. Sometimes, though, we must resort to complete or partial dentures. Usually it’s in the instance of:
1) Having a pre-existing denture that you want replaced
2) There is the presence of such massive decay and advanced periodontal disease present. The most predictable and effective option might be a Complete or partial denture.
3)Partial dentures are given in cases of when many teeth are missing or all molars are missing due to previous extraction , and where a bridge may not be possible and Patients may not want Dental implants.
What types of dentures are there ?
Traditional dentures:
Dentures held in the mouth by nothing other than passive retention. This means that impressions are taken of the mouth (without teeth) and dentures are fabricated precisely to the underlying gum.
Typically, people who have a denture in this situation have to rely on denture adhesives or pastes to keep the denture in place throughout the day.
This is especially the case on lower dentures because the ridge of bone and gum on the lower is not as substantial as that on the top, so the denture “flops” around more. The upper denture is usually a little more stable in this situation because it utilizes the surface area of your palate to help keep things in place.
Over denture:
A denture that is essentially attached to either two large dental implants or 4-6 mini- Dental implants. You can see how this option helps to stabilize and retain the denture in the mouth. The denture will actually “click” into the two positions.
Old dentures (or your existing denture) can usually be retro-fit to accommodate the denture. As far as dentures go, this is the second best denture option for long term. In the opinion of Cross Dental, almost all lower dentures should be an over denture because otherwise they just “flop” around, making it difficult to speak and talk. This option still makes the denture removable each night.
Implant Dentures (hybrid bridge):
This option is not really a denture – it’s more like a fixed bridge. Typically 4 or 6 dental implants are placed on the upper and lower arch. The denture hybrid (implant dentures) is actually fixed to the implants in the mouth.
This is the most stable option and it is NOT removed each night. Some other names for this type of denture are “All on 4” or “Teeth in an Hour.”
The advantage to implant supported dentures is that they are the most stable and most aesthetic option . Using Implants also preserves the bone and allows the patient to use their dentures satisfactorily for many more years.