One of the most common ways that you replace teeth in the past was to have a denture. All the dentures are a way to replace your teeallth. Not many patients would want to have a denture for very obvious reasons. One, it could be because the dentures move around a lot when you talk or when you eat. It’s hard for you to actually chew on because sometimes dentures can lift and move.
I’ve got a story from quite a while back. I had a patient who was in his sixties and he went on a cruise with his new girlfriend and his girlfriend did not know that he has a set of upper and lower dentures. So on the first day of his cruise, he sneezed. And guess what happened. True story. The denture flew out and landed in the sea. So for two weeks on the cruise, he had no teeth with a new girlfriend.
I’m not sure what happened there after, but he came to see me after that and he requested me not to make him another denture. Because I’ve never seen him before. And after his teeth had fallen into the ocean he has come to me to me for advice on what to do besides having a denture.
Besides dentures, you’ve got basically two options. One, you can have a fixed option where you can have four implants for example, and have fixed teeth on the implants. Now, it’s called All on Implants™. Now, it’s not what you think. In dental terms, it’s when you have four implants, fixed on bridge and it’s fixed there. So basically it functions like real teeth.
Now the other option is to have a removable denture but attached to an implant or implants on the lower jaw for example. So what that means is that when you have a denture, it actually clips into the implant. It is still removable meaning you still take it out before you sleep. And after meals you need to take it out and give it a good rinse then put it back in. But at least it’s fixed to something. And when it’s fixed to something, it’s a lot more secure. So when you sneeze, when you talk, when you laugh, it’s not going to fall out like my poor patient- what happened to him.
So to summarise, you’ve got three options when you don’t have any teeth left. One, a full lower and upper denture, which is not fixed to anything. Second would be a removable denture attached to an implant, meaning you can still take it in and out but it’s fixed onto something at least it’s more secure.
Or you can have the third option which is an All on Implants™ option where it’s all fixed and you don’t move it, you don’t take it out. Dentist may take it out from time to time to clean it. But it functions like real teeth.
So hopefully based on these three options, you can take your pick, choose the one you need and be sure to know the pros and the cons, find a dentist who knows all the options and can do all of them so you know you are best served and that you are in good hands.
