I have lost my teeth is it possible to have have denture implants are they expensive ?

Q. I lost my upper teeth and some of my lower teeth after suffering excess acid problems for 10 yrs now i have dentures of which i cant wear the bottom set and i hate the upper ones but i have to wear them,do you think it was possible for me to have denture implants and would this be very expensive. thank you C

A. Hi C,

I am sorry to hear about your problems. Excess acid problem if diagnosed early and treated can prevent the problems you have experienced. I hope that your condition is now stable and is not causing any further issues.

There are a number of factors at play with regards to what can be done for you. In a very short response to you question “ if dental implants are possible” , then the answer is yes! However like with all things in life there is a catch. I will attempt to list some of the main factors which relate to dental implants.

The quality of the bone and the amount of bone present
The cost of dental implants
The periodontal health surrounding any existing teeth or the oral health
Any medical conditions you might have.

The quality of the bone and the amount of bone required for dental implants is important because you obviously need bone to hold the implant and that bone needs to be of sufficient strength and thickness to hold it in. The cost of a dental implant is approximately £2000 per dental implant, so when considering using them to replace multiple missing teeth the cost does rise.

Like teeth which suffer from periodontal disease and become loose, so can implants suffer from this fate. The term “periimplantitis” is often used and a strict oral hygiene regime is required to look after you implants. However like with all things in life, sometimes despite our best efforts things do fail.

Medical conditions such as diabetes other conditions such as osteoarthritis can again affect the bone and healing, and if you have an increased susceptibility to infections then the implants will always be at greater risk of failure.

Having briefly mentioned something about implants, it is important to explore the other options. Whilst you currently hate wearing your dentures, there is a wonderful new range of options in dentures. New lightweight polymer dentures are coming to the market and allow us to get rid of the big bulky acrylic plastic dentures that have been around since the beginning of the last century!!

A more cost effective method to help dentures fit is something called “mini-implants”. Whilst they do not have the same level of success as traditional dental implants they can be extremely useful in situations where medical conditions, time or cost are an issue.

I hope I have answered your questions and addressed any concerns you might have. Please feel free to contact me to ask further questions.

Regards

Dr Safeer Butt
Principal S3 Dental
Synergistic Smile Studios

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This post was published on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 12:08 amand is filed under Dr Butt's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. Dental Implants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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