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Why is it needed?
Patients who have suffered serious tooth loss need major replacement solutions. Traditional options include regular dentures and partials supported by the gums. However, with the advent of implants, it has become possible to replace a series of missing teeth in a much more stable way. In effect, patients who have lost a great number of their teeth – or even all of them – can now get dentures and partials that are snapped into regular implants. Not only is this option more reliable and comfortable, but it takes less space in the mouth than traditional dentures. This is especially true in the case of implant supported dentures for the upper jaw: the patient’s palate is not covered by the prosthesis, which provides him or her with an improved capacity to taste foods.
What does it consist of?
Implant supported dentures and partial dentures consist of an actual series of artificial teeth which are specifically designed to be clasped into implants. They work very much like snap buttons: once the implants are in place, their abutments fit right into the dentures’ sockets, providing the patient with a long-term solution that provides more stability and comfort than conventional dentures while still being very easy to clean.
How is it carried out?
Just like it is the case for implant supported crowns and bridges, the putting in place of implant supported dentures and partial dentures calls for a lot of planning and may involve specialists other than the dentist. The full procedure actually lasts a few months. Implants first have to be placed into the jawbone and rest there for a while until they fuse with the bone; only once this has happened can the abutments be added to the implants. Following this addition, digital images of the patient’s mouth are taken and sent to a dental laboratory so that the framework and the teeth of the dentures can be tailor-made.