According to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, nearly 70% of adults aged 35 to 44 years in the United States have at least one missing tooth. Often times these adults are missing at least one tooth or more due to an accident, tooth decay, gum disease, or dental fractures.
Losing teeth can be very distressing, painful and life altering. Missing teeth can make it difficult to speak and eat, and having a missing tooth can put your life on hold. Luckily with modern advancements in medical technologies there is no need to live with a missing tooth, or multiple missing teeth. In today’s day and age there exist multiple options for replacing your teeth and getting your healthy mouth back. The two most popular options for replacing missing or fractured teeth are dentures and dental implants.
Dentures are relatively high quality false teeth and dental implants are surgically implanted teeth that are inserted into the jawbone for stability and a close to real teeth feel and look. For many choosing between dentures or dental implants can be a very tough decision. Below we have outlined the differences of benefits, prices and durability between dentures and dental implants for the use of replacing missing teeth.
Need Dental Implants in Los Angeles? Visit Dr. David Kao
What Are Dentures?
Dentures are replacements for missing teeth that can be inserted and removed at will. There are two types of dentures that exist for tooth replacement, partial dentures and full mouth dentures. Full dentures require a flesh colored acrylic base to be placed over the gums where the missing teeth are. Full dentures will cover the palate (roof of your mouth) and lower dentures are horseshoe shaped to make room for your tongue. Partial dentures rest upon a metal framework that attaches to the already existing natural teeth. Occasionally crowns are placed to act as anchors for the partial dentures, otherwise partial dentures use natural teeth as anchors.
Dentures are custom made in a dental laboratory from an impression made of your gums and mouth. Unfortunately, dentures take a long time to get used to and will never remind you or feel like your natural teeth. While modern day dentures are more comfortable than dentures of previous decades they can still be very awkward, uncomfortable and require a great deal of practice to learn how to eat and speak with.
What Are Dental Implants?
Dental Implants are replacements for missing teeth that are permanent and inserted directly into the jawbone for the most comfortable and natural alternative for missing tooth replacement.
Metal posts or frames are inserted directly into the jawbone where teeth are mounted atop. Because dental implants are fused to the jawbone, they provide stable support for the tooth replacement. There are multiple options for dental implants in Los Angeles that provide the best tooth replacement for patients including:
Single Tooth Replacement
Single tooth implants are perfect for patients missing one tooth or several teeth in various areas of the mouth. A single tooth implant is inserted by a periodontist who surgically places an opening in the jawbone. Once an opening is prepared a crown made to look and feel like natural teeth is placed upon the implant.
Multiple Teeth Replacement
Multiple teeth implants are perfect for several missing teeth. Cylindrical “screws” are placed into the gums and jawbone and allowed time to bond with your jaw. Replacement teeth or bridges are custom created and fitted for your mouth. These custom replacements are built to look, feel and function like real teeth and are placed upon the screws.
Full Arch Restoration
A full arch replacement and restoration is a perfect tooth replacement alternative for patients missing all of their teeth. Prior to the introduction of dental implants there was no permanent solution for missing all teeth. A full arch restoration is a permanent solution to replacing teeth that takes a custom made fixed bridge and places it upon dental implant anchors inserted into the jawbone. Once completed the full arch restoration implants look and function just like real teeth unlike dentures which can shift when eating and talking.
Teeth in a Day
Teeth in a day implants are a revolutionary tooth replacement method that offers patients brand new teeth implants in just one day. To learn more about teeth in day dental implants in Los Angeles give us a call at 213.250.7554
All on 4
All on 4 implants are a cost effective and graftless solution used to provide patients a full set of new teeth on the day of the surgery. All on 4 implants takes a custom set of teeth and places them upon four screws inserted into the jawbone.
Dental implants are a great permanent method for replacing teeth with custom, natural looking and feeling teeth. There are many different benefits between dental implants and dentures for tooth replacement.
Benefits and Risks of Dentures
Dental implants have revolutionized the way missing teeth are replaced. However, dentures can occasionally be a viable method for replacing teeth for some. Below we have listed the benefits and drawbacks of dentures for tooth replacement.
Benefits of Dentures
- Replacement teeth are made to look as natural as possible and the pink acrylic is also made to resemble the color of your gums as well.
- Dentures can be an affordable option if all teeth are needed for replacement.
- Dentures can be removed for easier cleaning and maintenance.
- Dentures are relatively easy to adjust and can be adjusted simply for additional tooth loss
- Dentures that are correctly made and correctly fitted to the patient will also help to support the cheeks and lips of the patient. This helps to restore height between the upper and lower jaws so the face will not have the look of being slightly collapsed inwards.
Risks of Dentures
- Dentures, although designed to look natural, do not look as natural as dental implants. Dental Implants are made to look exactly like your other natural teeth and unlike dentures there is no acrylic that needs to match the color of your natural gums.
- Dentures must be removed when sleeping, and must be removed to clean regularly.
- Dentures can slip and shift in your mouth, especially when talking and eating. Additionally, denture shifting will progressively get worse over time due to the fact that over time the jawbone becomes flatter and less able to provide retention. Denture adhesive is expensive, messy and doesn’t prevent all slipping and shifting of dentures, especially if dentures have been used for several years.
- Speaking and eating takes many months to become remotely comfortable and even after many months most people report that speaking and eating with dentures is a difficult task.
- Partial dentures can weaken the supporting natural teeth permanently. Often times it becomes necessary for the supporting natural teeth to be reshaped to accommodate the clasps for partial dentures. This process can need to be done several times over the span of your dentures lifetime.
- Many dentures need to be replaced every three to six years and often times must be resized and reshaped. This process is very tedious for denture wearers.
- Dentures are very fragile and likely to break if dropped. Dropping your dentures is very likely because it is necessary to remove your dentures several times throughout the day and often times denture adhesives are not very strong or reliable.
- Dentures are known for trapping food which can cause periodontal disease and hurt your healthy teeth.
- Dentures require restrictions in various types of food you are able to eat. These restrictions make having a healthy balanced diet difficult and force you not to be able to eat some of your favorite foods.
- Speaking with dentures becomes very difficult and requires very strong muscle control to keep dentures in place.
Benefits and Risks of Dental Implants
Tooth replacement for missing or fractured teeth is necessary for living a healthy fulfilled life, a revolutionary means of tooth replacement is dental implants in Los Angeles. When dental implants were introduced to the medical world it was clear that these implants were a perfect means for replacing missing teeth naturally with custom made natural looking teeth. Dental implants have many benefits over other means of tooth replacement.
Need Dental Implants in Los Angeles? Visit Dr. David Kao
Benefits of Dental Implants
- Dental implants are custom made and natural looking. Thus your implants and natural teeth will look exactly the same.
- Dental implants function just like natural health teeth. Eating and speaking is no more difficult than with natural teeth.
- Dental implants are inserted into the jaw which offers a very strong foundation. Speaking and eating will not shift your teeth because they are placed atop implants inserted straight into the jaw bone.
- All on 4 dental implants can be done in just one day.
- Full arch restoration is the first method to offer a permanent solution to a patient missing all of their teeth.
- Dental Implants protect your natural teeth by preventing neighboring healthy natural teeth from moving out of position. Partial dentures often require for neighboring healthy natural teeth to be ground down or modified.
- Dental Implants are much more durable and can be a permanent option for tooth replacement if properly cared for and maintained.
- Food actually tastes better with implants. This one may sound crazy but dental implants allow you to eat many more foods that are otherwise off-limits with dentures. Additionally, with dentures your upper palate, which contains thousands of taste buds, is covered causing you not to enjoy the taste of your foods. Dental implants do not cover your upper palate or otherwise hinder your taste buds at all.
Risks of Dental Implants
- Disregarding one-a-day implants, many dental implants procedure can take a few months for the entire process to be completed.
- Dental implants cost more than dentures, however they are a more permanent solution to tooth loss.
Tooth loss can be devastating for most people. Missing teeth can negatively affect all areas of life and make eating or speaking extremely difficult. However, with modern medical advancements dentures and dental implants are both viable options for replacing teeth and getting your healthy teeth back.
Dentures are a great option for tooth replacement, especially if all teeth in the mouth are missing. However, dentures are not a permanent option and must be replaced every three to six years. Dentures also are known to trap food which can cause periodontal disease and dentures often slip and shift within the mouth making eating and speaking difficult.
Dental implants are a perfect permanent option for replacing teeth with natural looking and functioning teeth. Although costlier than dentures, they offer a much more viable healthy and stable approach to replacing teeth.
If you have missing teeth and need dental implants in Los Angeles give periodontist Dr. Kao’s office a call at 213.250.7554.
