Do you remember rewinding VHS tapes? Before DVDs, watching a movie at home involved a lot of fast forwarding, rewinding, and hoping you landed on the right scene. Then, DVDs came along as a more convenient innovation in at-home movie watching! The ability to pause, play, rewind, and find the exact scene you were looking for at the press of a button was an incredible jump in convenience compared to VHS tapes. Interestingly enough, a similar phenomenon is happening in dentistry. Traditional dentures are like VHS tapes. While effective, these prosthetics are high maintenance, prone to problems, and outdated. However, a Snap-in denture is more similar to the DVD upgrade, providing innovation and convenience for patients like you. Anchored by mini implants, this prosthetic is reliable, secure, and removable for easy maintenance.
The Shortcomings of Traditional Dentures
Total tooth loss is likely more common than you think. In older adults 65 and older, the prevalence of total tooth loss is around 13%. Unfortunately, this prevalence only increases with age.
Usually, people picture traditional dentures as the obvious solution to complete tooth loss. These prosthetics are big, bulky gum bases that fit over your natural gums, securing a beautiful arch of teeth to replace your missing smile.
While often initially effective, traditional dentures become loose over time as they rely on your jaw for support. With missing teeth, however, your jawbone structure will gradually lose mass and volume through a natural process called bone resorption.
Natural teeth have tooth roots that embed into your jawbone to provide security and stimulation. Every time you bite or chew, your roots communicate with the bone to keep it healthy and dense. Losing natural teeth means losing stimulation, resulting in bone resorption! When traditional dentures replace your teeth, they fail to replace your roots, allowing bone resorption to continue its effect on your jawbone.
A shrinking jawbone makes for a poor foundation, causing your traditional dentures to come loose! The consequences of loose dentures include:
- Denture sores: As your prosthetic shifts around in your mouth, it irritates the gum tissue. Often, this creates denture sores that make wearing your denture painful.
- Difficulties eating: Loose dentures reduce your ability to break down tough or hard foods. Difficulty chewing often results in unfortunate diet changes that may prevent you from getting vital nutrients.
- Infection risk: Because loose dentures cause denture sores and often trap food under your prosthetic, they increase the risk of infection for patients.
Fortunately, at East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, Dr. Zirakian provides a more secure and convenient solution.
Providing a Snap-in Denture as a Solution!
Dr. Zirakian uses dental implants to secure dentures, creating a more stable foundation that prevents bone resorption! These implants are titanium posts he secures into your jawbone to function like artificial tooth roots. By stabilizing your denture and keeping your jawbone healthy, he creates a much more comfortable denture experience for his patients!
While there are various types of implant-retained dentures, Dr. Zirakian recommends the snap-in denture to anyone looking for stability and convenience.
This prosthetic has a similar design to a traditional denture, as it has a pink gum base to secure an arch of artificial teeth. However, snap-in dentures lack the bulky upper plate that traditional dentures use for additional support! With mini dental implants securing your restoration, the uncomfortable upper plate becomes unnecessary, freeing your upper palate.
Additionally, the base of a snap-in denture has housing on the bottom of the prosthetic that contain “o-rings”. These rings allow your dentures to “snap” on and off your implants with ease. When on your implants, your denture remains incredibly secure. However, you can also remove them easily for maintenance purposes.
The ability to remove your dentures allows for much better cleaning, as you can reach all of the areas of the denture that are difficult to maintain. Another benefit of removable dentures is the ability to take your prosthetic out at night, which gives your gums a break.
Of all the implant denture options Dr. Zirakian provides, a snap-in denture is the least expensive, as it uses fewer implants. In some cases, if it’s in great condition, we can even transform your traditional denture into a snap-in denture, saving you both time and money!
Experience Convenience With a Snap-in Denture
Like upgrading from a VHS to a DVD, snap-in dentures provide an incredible increase in convenience and innovation compared to traditional dentures. At East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, Dr. Zirakian uses dental implants to retain the prosthetic, providing great stability. With removable convenience and secure mini dental implants in place, you can trust a snap-in denture to restore function to your smile.
Book a free consultation to learn if you’re eligible for snap-in denture solutions!
Follow Dr. Zirakian on social media to explore the other implant denture options he provides.
