Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dentures and Dental Implants

People often ask their dentists if dentures will work just as well as dental implants. The truth is, dentures are better than nothing at all, but they can offer only limited benefit to a person. Dental implants, on the other hand, offer full tooth replacements that can potentially last a lifetime. Whereas dentures will help maintain the muscle tone of the face, dental implants provide both facial structure and a reliable chewing surface.

Dentures have a number of disadvantages that limit their usefulness as well as their appeal. For one thing, they have to be removed and cleaned on a regular basis. Consider how this can scare small children when they discover the teeth of a parent or grandparent soaking in a glass in the kitchen. Dental implants do not have to be taken out and cleaned in this fashion because they are fixed in the bone and work just like natural teeth. They can even be brushed and flossed.

Dentures can also make embarrass people during meals by making clicking sounds that people can hear across the table. Dental implants make no such noises because they are anchored within the bone. Dental implants do not fall out either because they are screwed to the jawbone and stay in the mouth just like natural teeth.

Dental implants also allow a person to eat any foods that natural teeth can normally chew. Dentures are much more limited because they do not provide enough of a hard chewing surface. Porcelain, the substance used to make implants, is one of the hardest substances known to medical science, and is also stain resistant and impervious to chipping and cracking.

Virtually any cosmetic dentist will tell you that the biggest advantage of dental implants over dentures is their ability to reverse bone degradation. You see, when teeth fall out, the bone has nothing to grow around, and it begins to recess and deteriorate. This causes it to lose surface area, flatten, and become increasingly fragile. Bones, as living tissue, must have something to connect to in order to maintain surface mass and growth. Dentures do not connect with the bone and therefore cannot provide this. However, dental implants work just like natural tooth roots, growing into the bone and giving it a mass to grow around. This not only stops bone degradation, it most often reverses it.


For more information on the benefits of cosmetic dental implants, read the following:

Dental Implants
Titanium Dental Implants
Dental Implant Surgery
Dental Tooth Implants
Dental Implant Procedures
Postoperative Instructions for Dental Implants

Dentures are much cheaper than dental implants, but dental implants give people much more value for their money. Most cosmetic dentists also offer payment plans to help people cover the costs of implants, and many insurance companies will cover a portion of the costs as well.

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