Colorado Springs Dentists Discusses Removable Dentures and Alternatives, PART 2

This two-part article series addresses traditional removable dentures as a solution to multiple missing teeth and edentulism. It then goes on to explore the alternative – dental implants – and why they are regarded as more beneficial to patients.

Welcome to the second half of this two-part article series on removable dentures and the more modern teeth replacement technology on the market: dental implants. In Part 1, Colorado Springs dentists discussed what removable dentures are, how they work and what some of the challenges associated with them are. In this article, we shall discuss the more modern alternative – dental implants – and how they offer Pueblo CO residents a far more comfortable, functional and aesthetic solution to rampant tooth loss and edentulism (toothlessness).

What Are Dental Implants?

According to Colorado Springs dentists, dental implants are essentially artificial tooth roots. As you can see in the image above, they are tiny screws made from the exceptionally strong metal titanium. These devices are used to replace the roots of missing teeth and then to offer strong support for an overlying dental appliance, such as a ceramic crown or fixed bridge. These restorations replace the visible portion of the missing tooth or teeth.

How Can They Be Used To Replace All Of My Teeth?

Dental implants are popularly used to replace one or two missing teeth, but they can also be used to provide Pueblo CO residents with a complete set of new, non-removable teeth. In these cases four or more dental implants are strategically placed in regions of the mouth that contain a greater volume of strong and healthy bone tissue. A fixed (non-removable) prosthetic dental bridge is then attached to this array of implants, thus providing the patient with a complete set of beautiful teeth again (see image below).

What Are The Benefits of Dental Implants?

Unlike traditional removable dentures, dental implants are placed “permanently” in the mouth and the new teeth they support are non-removable. This eliminates many of the challenges and hassles people with dentures have to contend with, such as removing their teeth for cleaning and at nighttime. Dental implants derive all the support they need from the underlying jawbone, as is the case with natural teeth. As a result, Pueblo CO residents are spared all the pain and discomfort caused by bulky dentures pressing down on and rubbing against their gums.

According to dentists in Colorado Springs, some of the other benefits afforded by dental implants include:

• Dental implants feel natural,
• Dental implants support much slimmer and more comfortable replacement teeth,
• They are cared for and cleaned similarly to natural teeth,
• Dental implants enable patients to bite down with greater strength and to eat most of their favorite foods,
• They give patients a more beautiful, natural and confident smile.

Perhaps most importantly, dental implants resume the function of the missing tooth root, which helps to keep the underlying jawbone tissue stimulated. Through this stimulation, jawbone health is preserved, which prevents the early onset of aging through bone volume loss. Wearing removable dentures does nothing to prevent atrophy and the loss of bone volume in the jaw explains why denture wearers typically get that aged, sunken appearance around the mouth.

In Conclusion

Dental implants offer Pueblo CO residents a much better, more functional, comfortable and aesthetic solution to missing teeth. They also help to promote jawbone health, which prevents the deterioration of one’s natural youthful facial contours. It’s for these reasons and many more that Colorado Springs cosmetic dentists tend to recommend implants to those in need of new teeth.

Cosmetic Dentist in Pueblo CO Discusses Removable Dentures and Alternatives, PART 1

This two-part article series addresses traditional removable dentures as a solution to multiple missing teeth and edentulism. It then goes on to explore the alternative – dental implants – and why they are regarded as more beneficial to patients.

One way or another – whether through personal experience or having seen a loved one wear them – we all have an idea of what removable dentures or “false teeth” are. Prior to the innovation of dental implant techniques capable of replacing a patient’s entire set of teeth, dentures were really the only solution cosmetic dentists in Pueblo CO had available. If you had lost most or all of your original adult teeth, then a future of denture wearing was what you had to look forward to.

Technology has advanced considerably since these days and thank goodness it has because the teeth replacement techniques available today are far more comfortable and offer patients improved functionality and smile aesthetics. In spite of this, removable dentures are still the most popular method of teeth replacement, so let’s take a look at this technology.

What Are Dentures?

Removable dentures are artificial teeth that consist of an upper or lower set of ceramic teeth mounted into pink plastic or acrylic gums. Dentures are typically custom made for the Colorado Springs resident, although they are available in a range of standard sizes. Needless to say, custom-made dentures are likely to fit better and more comfortably.

How Do Dentures Work?

Dentures are essentially placed in the mouth over the gums where they rely on their bulk to remain stable. Other than this, there is nothing holding them in place, which is why they tend to shift around when eating and during conversation. It’s for this reason – for the discomfort associated with traditional dentures – that many dentists in Pueblo CO recommend dental implants instead, or at least dentures that are secured in the mouth using dental implants.

Challenges To Be Aware Of

Many of the challenges associated with wearing dentures arise from the fact that they are loose in the mouth. There is nothing really preventing them from moving around, which can cause the following problems:

• Oral discomfort,
• Constant self-consciousness,
• Difficulty eating,
• A low self-esteem,
• Unwillingness to smile openly.

Additionally, Colorado Springs cosmetic dentists warn patients that removable dentures do tend to press down on and rub against the gums during eating and conversation, which can cause them to become quite sore and inflamed. As a result many patients have to keep a tube of anesthetic gel handy to help relieve some of the discomfort associated with wearing dentures.

Other problems associated with the bulkiness and looseness of dentures include:

• Impediment of taste ability (bulkiness covers the soft palate),
• Lesser ability to experience the texture and temperature of one’s food,
• The triggering of the gag reflex,
• The repeated cost of anesthetic gels and adhesive strips to help secure dentures,
• Thin, stretched lips and aged smile aesthetics.

What Are The Alternatives?

Thankfully, as it was mentioned, Colorado Springs residents do have an alternative to dentures. Dental implants have been around for many decades, but it’s only recently – with the advent of newer, more sophisticated and less expensive techniques – that they’ve become accessible to the “average” person in need of a complete set of new teeth. The benefits they offer aren’t only aesthetic and functional in nature; dental implants also promote much better jawbone health…

Stay Tuned For Part 2

In the second half of this article series, cosmetic dentists shall explain the virtues and benefits of dental implants as an alternative teeth replacement solution to traditional removable dentures.

Colorado Springs Dentists Explain the Disadvantages of Dentures

This article examines the problems associated with traditional removable dentures and why modern dental implant procedures offer a much better solution to tooth loss.

For years, centuries even, the technology used to replace a mouth full of failing and/or missing teeth was a set of removable artificial teeth. These teeth or dentures were bulky, rested on the gums and relied on their mass and the support of the soft tissue-covered jawbone ridge to remain in the mouth. The result was a technology that enabled patients to eat and speak to a degree, but that came hand-in-hand with a slew of challenges. In this article, Colorado Springs dentists will be explaining to us just why traditional removable dentures should be a technology of the past and why patients who need new teeth should be opting for dental implants.

Denture Downfalls

“One of the biggest problems with dentures is that they rest on the gums, which means that every time you bite down on food, that pressure gets transferred directly to the gums,” explain Colorado Springs dentist. “This might not initially feel too uncomfortable, but after months of the same abuse, the gums can become painful and inflamed. Nasty sores can develop as well and patients find themselves changing their diet to provide relief to their gums.”

The gums are not built to sustain such pressures, which is why dentures tend to cause Colorado Springs residents so much discomfort. But this isn’t where denture problems begin and end. Colorado Springs dentists have received the following common complaints from patient who have had teeth replaced with this archaic method:

• Dentures slip around and can fall out,
• Dentures can have a devastating impact upon self-esteem and social confidence,
• They don’t look or feel natural,
• Patients with dentures struggle to manage a wide variety of foods,
• Dentures do not maintain a healthy jawbone
• Dentures are a hassle to clean and maintain. They need to be taken out after every meal and at nighttime for careful cleaning.
• They require repeat expenses, such as overnight soaking solutions, anesthetic gels, storage containers and adhesive strips,
• Dentures can harbor food and bacteria, leading to “denture halitosis”,
• Dentures require frequent refitting, so Colorado Springs residents are constantly spending money on their replacement teeth.

All of these challenges aside, what comes as the biggest shock is the fact that wearing dentures can shorten Colorado Springs residents’ life expectancy by a staggering 10 years!

“Over time, bite functionality deteriorates as jaw bone volume is lost to atrophy,” explain Colorado Springs dentists. “Consequently, patients are able to manage less and less food at mealtimes. What used to be a pleasure is now a battle with uncomfortable, loose teeth and extremely tender gums. The result of all this is malnourishment. Eventually, a patient’s jawbone can deteriorate to the point where they can only bite down with 6% of the force of a natural, healthy bite. A lack of proper nutrition can shorten life expectancy quite considerably.”

What’s the Alternative?

The fact is dentures simply don’t offer Colorado Springs residents the functionality, aesthetics and comfort that the modern alternative, dental implants, do. And yet, patients still choose dentures as their teeth replacement solution, allowing a concern for cost to take center stage in the decision making process. Dental implants are a far more sophisticated, comfortable, functional, aesthetic and long-lasting solution to rampant tooth loss and edentulism (not having any natural teeth). They’re also more cost effective in the long run, so speak to your Colorado Springs dentist about your teeth replacement options and ditch the dentures!