When replacing missing teeth, you have numerous options at your disposal. There are a variety of denture styles to choose from, each with its own unique design and function. At East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, we provide both traditional dentures and implant dentures. For easy removal and cleaning, we have traditional dentures, supported by large denture bases that rest on your gums. For those seeking a more stable solution, we offer implant dentures to keep your smile secure! Some patients may even be searching for a permanent prosthetic that looks and feels like their natural teeth. If any of those options sound like what you’ve been searching for, visit us in East Longmeadow, MA, to explore our diverse range of dental prosthetics!
The Drawbacks of Traditional Dentures
Traditional dentures are often the go-to for most patients, likely due to their affordability. However, these dentures do come with significant drawbacks that may affect your decision.
These prosthetics use your jawbone for support and are designed to fit perfectly in the contours of your mouth. Unfortunately, your jawbone is a poor foundation for dentures, as missing teeth cause your bone to shrink over time! Bone loss leads to loose dentures, which present a variety of issues for patients that negatively affect their quality of life. These include:
Difficulty chewing: Your natural teeth are designed for chewing, and replicating this strength is difficult. Loose dentures create major challenges when eating, as tougher foods can be impossible to break down. Often, this results in an unfortunate change in diet and nutrition.- Gum irritation: Loose dentures often shift around on your jaw when you speak or eat, causing them to rub against your soft tissue. This irritates your gums, usually resulting in painful denture sores that prevent your smile from functioning as it should.
- Increased risk of infection: As your dentures shift around your mouth, food is often trapped underneath your prosthetic. Bacteria and plaque then build up on your dentures, spreading infection and increasing your risk of gum disease and decay!
A great way to stabilize these dentures is to use dental implants for support! These implants both prevent your jawbone from deteriorating and create a stable foundation for dentures, keeping your smile functional.
Explore Our Implant Denture Styles
For patients with total tooth loss, we offer a variety of implant dentures to choose from.
All-on-4 Implant Dentures
Using four conventional dental implants, we can secure your denture in place. These implants offer excellent stability, as titanium forms a strong bond with bone over time. Unlike traditional dentures, this prosthetic is permanently fixed, never to come out.
However, it’s important to note that the All-on-4 system requires ample jawbone, which many patients lack. While we can provide a bone graft to rebuild lost bone, it will add to the cost and length of your procedure.
Snap-on Dentures
This prosthetic rests on 4-8 mini dental implants, which are the smaller and sleeker version of conventional implants. Using a minimally invasive procedure, we place these implants in your jawbone to support a denture restoration, such as snap-on dentures.
In contrast to the All-on-4 denture, snap-on dentures are a removable prosthetic that “snaps” on and off your implants. Additionally, the smaller size of mini implants allows more patients with less jawbone structure to restore their smile, sometimes without a bone graft!
Fix-on-Six Dentures
The semi-removable denture is technically a roundhouse bridge, as it doesn’t require the bulky gum base associated with dentures. Instead, the crowns form a natural-looking arch that attaches directly to your implants!
This denture rests on 6-10 mini implants, providing a secure smile and a strong bite. It’s important to note that while you won’t remove this prosthetic, we will remove it at routine dental visits to ensure your smile remains healthy.
Non-removable Roundhouse Bridges
Secured by 10-12 mini implants, a non-removable roundhouse bridge provides incredible security. With these permanent dentures, you can regain the look and feel of your natural teeth! A non-removable roundhouse bridge is permanently cemented on your implants, offering a strong bite and secure feel.
Visit us in East Longmeadow for Innovative Denture Styles
If you’re looking to replace your smile with dentures, visit East Longmeadow Family Dental Center. We offer a variety of denture styles to suit your individual needs. At your free consultation, we will conduct a comprehensive dental exam, take X-rays, and discuss the best denture style for you. Book a free consultation today to learn more!
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