Dentures vs. Implants: How To Decide What’s Right For You

If you have started thinking about replacing missing teeth, you will also have to start considering the right procedures for actually doing this.

Sure, you could just visit a random dentist and tell them to do whatever they want, but I suppose you get why that wouldn’t be quite a good move.

After all, you want what’s best for your teeth and your overall oral health, which is why being careful when choosing is important. This page will help you take good care of your oral health.

Overview of Dentures vs. Implants

As I was saying, what you need to do here is make the right choice regarding what it is that you should do when it comes to replacing missing teeth. In other words, you want to decide on the right procedure. When you start thinking about that, you’ll usually wonder about two specific procedures and you’ll need to decide between those two.

In case you didn’t guess already, I am talking about the idea of getting dentures or dental implants. Since you’re not an expert on this topic, all of this might sound the same to you and you might not be exactly certain what the difference actually is. I can definitely understand that, but the truth is that there is a huge difference between dentures and dental implants, and you need to get properly informed about the difference.

To be even more precise, there are a lot of differences here. These two solutions might serve the same purpose, but they do so in completely different ways.

So, your task right now is to learn what dentures are and what dental implants are, which will help you realize how they differ and which will also help you decide which solution could be right for you.

Dentures

We are going to begin with dentures simply because this particular solution has been around for a longer period of time. So, it is only logical for us to begin with something that has been known to the general public for a long time now. In plain words, dentures are prosthetic, removable teeth. They can be a whole set made to replace all your teeth in your lower or upper jaws, but they can also be partial, i.e. designed to replace only your few missing teeth.

The first thing that the dentist needs to do if you decide to go for this solution is take an impression of your lower or upper gums, depending on where it is that you want to add dentures. Of course, if you want to replace all of your teeth, then the expert will have to take an impression of both the upper and lower gums. I am guessing, though, that this was perfectly logical to you already.

What you undeniably need to know before deciding which option to use is that dentures require quite a lot of maintenance. First of all, you shouldn’t wear them at night and you should leave them to soak in water or a cleaning solution designed specifically for these products. In addition to that, you should clean them on a daily basis and remove and brush them after every meal.

Another thing you should be informed of is that these might need to be refitted from time to time. This is because your bite will change over time, and the dentures will need to be adjusted accordingly.

So, if you decide to get, say, dentures for bottom teeth right now, you should be prepared to have them refitted sometime in the future. And, additionally, you should also be prepared to invest quite a lot of effort into properly maintaining them and thus making sure that they will last a long time.

Implants

Dental implants are basically metal screws that are embedded into your jawbone and that, thus, serve to replace the missing tooth roots. This procedure is slightly newer than the first one we have talked about, but it also seems to be at least a bit more popular recently. That’s probably because maintaining the implants is much easier and they do function very well, but we’ll talk about the maintaining part later.

The damaged root of your tooth needs to be extracted first in order for the implant to be placed instead of it. This procedure will require you to have enough bone, which is why a bone graft might be necessary from time to time.

Anyway, once the damaged root is removed, a hole is drilled into your jawbone and a metal prosthetic root is placed deep into the bone. After the bone has started growing around the post, which can take a couple of months, the post will be ready to receive an abutment, i.e. the piece to which the actual crown will be fitted.

Now, when it comes to maintenance, the good news is that you can think of these as of your regular, natural teeth.

This means that brushing twice a day, flossing on a regular basis, and not missing your dental appointments will be enough to maintain the implants (read more about these). You should, however, know that these are quite a bit more expensive than dentures, which is probably perfectly logical, given that they seem to be the more popular and the more beneficial option.

How To Choose Your Option (Dentures vs. Implants)

If you’ve done your reading, then you now certainly understand the difference between these two options. Some people might immediately be able to decide which one they want to use upon checking the advantages and the disadvantages of both options. Some people, however, might not be able to make that choice so easily.

I have a great piece of advice to give you when it comes to making this particular choice and being absolutely sure that you’ll choose the right option.

In short, what you should do is have a conversation with your dentist and let the professional give you his or her opinion on the topic. They can give you the right recommendation while taking your specific dental situation into account.