When you suffer from severe cases of tooth loss, a bridge or partial denture may not be enough. Instead, you need a full prosthetic to enjoy your favorite foods or smile with confidence. Instead of removable options, we can offer a fixed option that lasts far longer. In today’s blog, your Shrewsbury, MA, dentist looks at our dental implant dentures. With our implant dentures and our hybrid alternative, we can restore function, health, and beauty to your smile, with results that look great and last for decades to come, potentially even a lifetime!
The Causes of Severe Tooth Loss
We could lose the majority of our smile to factors like periodontitis, or possibly a severe injury or advanced tooth decay or infection. When this occurs, several aspects of our life are impacted. There could be difficulty eating a variety of foods, which impacts nutritional intake. Speaking clearly is difficult and advanced tooth loss could mean embarrassment in social situations, so people become isolated and quality of life suffers. The jawbone will also lose mass and density around the missing roots, which causes an aged appearance. But dental implant dentures can help mitigate these concerns and preserve the smile!
Planning Your Treatment
To get started, our team will carefully examine the smile to assess the severity of the tooth loss and the current state of the jawbone. We also want to identify any underlying oral health concerns that could complicate the tooth replacement process, such as periodontitis. Our team will choose the positions and angles to insert the dental implants, ensuring they can not only support new teeth, but also stimulate the growth of jaw structure to keep the jaw stable and prevent an aged appearance and other complications from forming. Our team may need to extract the last few teeth, and can do so gently and comfortably. We then take impressions and measurements of the smile, from multiple angles, so we can plan the placement process and attachment of the new teeth with precision and accuracy. Every smile is unique, and benefits from a personalized approach.
Implant Options
With traditional dental implant prosthetics, between six and eight implant posts are inserted into each arch. These will bond with the jaw and act as new roots, and we will attach abutments to them so we can connect a custom set of dentures, which are designed to look natural and fits comfortable, reflecting your unique facial structure. If your jawbone has been significantly weakened, you may need treatments like grafting or a sinus lift, to provide new structures to support your new roots. Once in place, the dentures will never slip when you eat or speak, and they don’t need to be removed for soaking or cleaning, staying secure like natural teeth. We will discuss proper care to ensure they can last for decades to come, possibly a lifetime. In comparison, traditional removable dentures need replacement as the jaw ridge changes, usually every five years or so. Your new teeth can last and function like natural ones, so you can enjoy your favorite foods again, speak with confidence, and smile without hesitation!
Hybrid Dentures
Our team also offers hybrid dentures, which can address tooth loss and complete the smile. These only need four to six smaller posts, which require less structure to stay in place, so you can potentially avoid the need for grafting or a sinus lift. We insert these carefully and often in the same visit attach abutments and the prosthetic portion. As with traditional implant dentures, they fit comfortably, can be adjusted to fit your jaw, and prevent the resorption of jawbone structure. If you have any questions about how our team will diagnose and treat issues like tooth loss, or about the benefits of our implant dentures or hybrid dentures, then please reach out to our office today. Why not make 2024 the year you finally obtain a full smile? We’re ready to help with custom prosthetics! We can examine your smile and help choose the best option for you, so you can start your journey to a full and beautiful smile.
Do You Need a Fixed Prosthetic?
We want to help you enjoy a full prosthetic that looks natural and can provide a lifetime of stunning smiles. To find out more about our fixed and durable tooth replacement, then please call our Shrewsbury/Grafton, MA area dental office at 508-842-8838. Don’t live with tooth loss and watch your quality of life suffer, rebuild your smile with our fixed prosthetics, which look and function like natural teeth. Everyone deserves a full smile, and we’re ready to help make this a reality for you!
