Are Permanent Teeth The Best Solution For Your Needs?
We often get patients that come in to the practice asking about “permanent teeth” and they are surprised that there is so many options out there. There is a big difference between a permanent dental implant bridge and an overdenture. An overdenture is a removable denture that snaps on to a number of dental implants, it is made of acrylic. An overdenture is a denture that needs to be removed at night and cleaned underneath it. It works well in several situations, especially if cost is an issue. Often, the patient coming in for this treatment has had a history of denture use or wear and wants extra retention to keep the denture from moving without having to rely on denture adhesives/glue.
The lower jaw is most often the problematic area as suction tends to be poor or non existent and the tongue and muscles of lower jaw always want to kick the denture out of the mouth or dislodge it. The difference between an overdenture and fixed “permanent” dental implant bridges, which are typically not removed by patients. The difference between dentures that have pink acrylic for the gums and white acrylic for the teeth, fixed/permanent bridges are typically made of porcleain with a metal base or more commonly now as illustrated full zirconia which is the strongest material on the market.
The advantage of a fixed permanent bridge is that nothing will be touching the roof of your mouth. The teeth will emerge from the gum line and no plastic is involved like in the dentures—dental implants and a fixed bridge cost more than a typical overdenture. The number of appointments and lab expenses to restore a patient with permanent teeth is complex, and a significant amount of detail goes into ensuring a successful fit with high aesthetics. This is one of the more complicated procedures at our Bowmanville dental office. Over dentures are a great option,n especially for the lower jaw. Often, patients can have a combination of fixed permanent teeth on the upper jaw and a snap-in overdenture in the lower jaw.
What is the right choice? Well it depends on many factors such what you want to invest, your budget and existing bone. Suppose you have been missing all of your teeth for several years. In that case, we often recommend getting a CT scan of your jaw to determine the anatomy and jawbone shape before surgery to ensure a safe and predictable surgery. In the long term, the permanent dental implant bridge tends to have less maintenance. We often place several extra dental implants if the patient wishes to convert the overdenture to a fixed dental implant bridge.
For your free dental implant consultation, contact our dental office in Bowmanville today.
Dr. Mark Bishara DDS
