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Dentures and Dental Implants: A Frank Comparison-Contrast
Many patients contact the Cosmetic Dentistry Center asking us if we can make dentures for them. While it is true we can make them, we always try to steer people toward the more functional and aesthetic benefits of dental implants. Dentures offer only limited benefit to the patient, whereas dental implants provide full tooth replacements that can potentially last a lifetime. While dentures do help maintain the cosmetic appearance of the face and assist to a certain extent in maintain the tone of facial muscles, dental implants provide this as well, with many additional advantages no other tooth replacement can offer.
Dentures require inconvenient maintenance that can range from inconvenient to downright embarrassing. Both full and partial dentures must be taken out routinely for cleaning. Imagine the horror of small children when they see a person’s teeth in a glass full of cleaning solution. Dental implants eliminate both the hassle and embarrassment of removal and cleaning. As structures fixed in the mouth that function like natural teeth, they can be brushed and flossed in the same manner.
Dentures also create embarrassing moments at mealtime. Depending on the quality and age of the dentures themselves, they can make clicking noises loud enough for people to hear across the table. Dental implants do not these noises because they are anchored within the bone. Other than the normal sounds that anyone makes during chewing, dental implants are silent and discreet in presence and function.
Even worse moments of embarrassment can surprise a person when their dentures fall out unexpectedly. Even the best partials and full dentures have the potential to obey the law of gravity at the worst possible moment. Dental implants, again, are literally screwed into the jaw. Provided they heal completely and the bone adapts to their presence, they will stay in the mouth just like natural teeth.
Many people have also come to us looking to replace dentures with dental implants simply because they are tired of limiting their diet. Some foods, though healthy, cannot be chewed easily or successfully with dentures because they simply do not provide enough of a hard chewing surface. Dental implants, on the other hand, are crowned with porcelain that is one of the hardest substances known to medical science. It provides a stain resistant, resilient surface that is highly resistant to any chipping, cracking, or breaking.
Most importantly, almost all cosmetic dentists will agree that the biggest advantage that dental implants offer over dentures is the reversal of bone degradation. As soon as a tooth is lost or pulled, the bone that once supported the tooth roots begins to recess and deteriorate. Over time, the jawbone loses surface area, flattens, and become increasingly fragile. Bones are living tissue, and like all living tissue, require direction and connection to grow in a healthy manner. Dentures cannot provide this because they make no connection to the jaw bone. However, dental implants do. The Tivolloy base of the implant is strategically placed in a portion of the bone to mimic the location of a natural tooth. The bone is “fooled” into thinking this is a new tooth root, and it begins to grow around the bio-friendly titanium alloy just like it once did around the natural tooth it lost.
Not only do dental implants help prevent bone deterioration in this way; they can actually reverse a certain amount of deterioration provided there is still enough bone left in which to implant a replacement tooth.
While it is true that the least expensive form of tooth replacement is dentures, dental implants can still be within the reach of the average person through any number of the payment options and financing plans we have available here at the Medical Center Dental Group. Before you assume you cannot afford dental implants and have to settle for dentures, at least consult with a professional to see what can be done to give you not only a better smile, but a more permanent one as well.
Cosmetic Dentistry is a specialized field that requires extensive knowledge and experience to be done correctly. The Medical Center Dental Group in Houston, Texas brings all of that and more to the direct benefit of each and every patient we treat. Although we are located in the world famous Houston Medical Center at Scurlock Towers, we routinely see dental patients who travel from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Beaumont Midland and Houston, Texas to see Dr. Dale Brant, Dr. Charles Campbell or Dr. Elizabeth O’Sullivan-Winslow for their cosmetic denistry services.
For any other questions related to cosmetic dentistry, you can Contact Us at 713.795.5905, visit our Dental Blog or Ask the Dentist
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