I have been wearing dentures for close to thirty years. Because of that, I have not had a pretty smile in many years. Plus, my dentures don’t even stay in anymore. I think they have stretched out over the years. A friend of mine has dental implants and her smile is beautiful. Is it too late for me to get a beautiful smile with dental implants?
Laurie
Dear Laurie,
Implant Overdentures
Technically, you can get dental implants at any time. However, the length of time that you have been in dentures means you are dealing with facial collapse. I don’t know if your dentist warned you when you first received your dentures, but this is one of the downsides to dentures. When your teeth were removed, your body recognized that and began resorbing the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere. While this is a remarkably efficient way of preserving your body’s resources, it does have the unfortunate side effect of slowly shrinking your jawbone. At this point, you probably have very little jawbone left. This is actually the reason why your dentures are not staying in.
Before you get the implants, you will need to build back up that bone structure again. This can be done with a bone grafting procedure. Once that is completed, you will need some healing time. From there, it will be time to get your dental implant procedure going. Because you were in full dentures, you will get implant overdentures, which is much more affordable than trying to replace each and every tooth with a dental implant.
Getting a Pretty Smile
Getting a beautiful smile has very little to do with whether you have dentures or dental implants. Instead, it is based on the skill of your dentist in cosmetic procedures. Dentures can be made to look stunning and dental implants can look fake. It all depends on the skill of the dentist. I would ask whatever dentist you choose to work with to see his smile gallery. This is a brag book of sorts that shows before and after pictures of cases he’s worked on. You’ll want a dentist who gets beautiful results. If they do not have a smile gallery, that means they do not do enough cosmetic work and likely cannot give you the beautiful smile you have been hoping for.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.