At Bright dental, we specialize in dental implants to help treat tooth loss. But dental implants aren’t the right solution for everybody. For those patients, we can recommend dentures as an alternative.
Some patients aren’t able to have implants because they’re just not good candidates for surgery. While dental implants are generally a low-risk procedure, not all patients are healthy enough for surgery. In some cases, a patient may have already lost too much bone for the implants to attach to; we can sometimes refer these patients for a bone graft, but that increases the difficulty of the procedure.
Sometimes patients are planning on implants, but they need dentures to help them out until their implants are finished. Our Coral Gables cosmetic dentist provides full or partial dentures in a variety of styles and options.
Full dentures conventionally rely on a proper fit to stay in place within the mouth. The right fit creates a slight suction between the denture and the roof or floor of the mouth. Over time, the bone in the jaw can shrink, so it’s important to see your Coral Gables cosmetic dentist if you find your dentures uncomfortable, or if you’re needing to use all sorts of adhesives and glues to keep your dentists in place.
Partial dentures can be either over teeth dentures or crown-supported dentures. With over teeth dentures, the denture slides over the top of existing teeth. Those existing teeth help to keep the denture in place. With a crown-supported denture, your partial denture will snap onto special attachments on a tooth’s crown. Crown-supported dentures are a lot like bridges, but they’re removable.
One new option for patients with extensive tooth loss is to use an implant-supported denture. Like the overteeth denture, this type of denture stays in place better, but it uses implants rather than existing teeth to help anchor it in place. The denture may “snap” in place like it does on a crown-supported denture, or it may simply use the implants to help keep it from sliding in the mouth.