I have most of my bottom teeth. My upper arch, however, is a completely different story. I will soon only have my two front teeth left. Currently I have two partial dentures, both of which will need to be replaced when I lose the teeth that are coming out in a couple of weeks. What I am trying to decide is whether or not I should keep the last two upper teeth or not. I am thoroughly unhappy with the partial dentures. I spoke to my dentist about it and he seems to be of the opinion it doesn’t matter either way what I do, which wasn’t exactly helpful. I usually don’t wear the two partials unless I am going somewhere. I can eat pretty much everything without them, except things that have to be ground a bit more, such as steak or hard things. Would a full denture look and work better than the partials? I’m on a budget of around $5,000.
Charles
Dear Charles,
In most cases, saving your natural teeth would be recommended at all costs. But, this case is a bit different. You have only those two teeth and I would not expect them to last long because of the pressure being place on them when you eat
The ideal solution in your case would be implant supported dentures, sometimes called implant overdentures. These are dentures that are secured to dental implants. However, this would completely blow your budget.
If you were talking about your bottom arch, I would encourage you to do everything you can to get implant overdentures. This is because for the lower arch, your dentures rest on the jawbone. Unfortunately, once your teeth are removed, your body recognizes that you no longer have any tooth roots. As a result, it begins resorbing the minerals in your jawbone in order to utilize them elsewhere in your body. It’s a model of efficiency. The only problem with that is your jawbone begins to shrink as a result. After ten or so years, you do not have enough jawbone left to retain your dentures.
The good news for you is that upper dentures are held in by suction so the jawbone is not as much of an issue. My recommendation is that you go ahead and get the dentures. I think you’ll be happier if you have a complete set rather than two partials. If they are well made, they will be more comfortable than your current set up.
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