Senior Dental Care Expert, Joshua Davidson
Answer:
Other than materials used for fillings and internal tooth repair, implants might be one of the greatest leaps forward in dentistry in the last half century.
Implants are essentially a small titanium screw that is placed in bone and used as a anchor to replace a missing tooth. It is also possible to place a series of anchors to replace many missing teeth. Implants can also be used as anchors for dentures.
At this time, implants are expensive and unless you have sizeable resources, implants are not an alternative to dentures, but rather an adjunct process to help with the retention of dentures.
Upper dentures fit well due to suction and the concave shape of the palate (roof of the mouth), but lower dentures can be problematic. The suction principle up top just doesn’t happen for the lowers. If the bony ridge is still relatively high, there is greater surface area, thus greater support for the lower denture, but if the ridge is resorbed, there is less support. The lower dentures also tend to be dislodged by the tongue and cheek muscles. What are the options?
One solution is called an implant-supported overdenture. Implants are placed (commonly just two implants for the lowers) and secured onto the implant is a small ball. That tiny metal sphere looks exactly like a trailer hitch on the back of a car or truck. There is a corresponding indentation in the denture that accepts the ball. This is a simplistic description of the mechanics, but this design is an extremely strong and efficient way of engaging a lower denture to create fantastic retention. The same design can be used for an upper denture.
Implant supported overdentures are a wonderful solution to the age old problem of “my dentures are pretty loose and I need a lot of fixative to hold them in place”. There are major constraining factors regarding implants, namely cost and remaining volume of bone, but implants are an option that one can consider when going to the dentist and addressing existing or future dentures.
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