The term “floating dentures” may evoke the classic image of dentures floating in water on your grandmother’s nightstand.
However, what floating dentures actually refer to is dentures that are loose in your mouth, sliding around on your gums with every movement. While traditional dentures are originally made to fit perfectly in the contours of your mouth, they tend to loosen over time due to bone resorption!
Natural teeth have vital roots that extend into your jawbone to secure your smile in place and stimulate your bone. When you lose teeth, you lose stimulation, causing your jawbone to deteriorate over time. This bone resorption process changes the fit of your prosthetic, leading to floating dentures that interrupt your ability to eat and function normally. Fortunately, the Mini Dental Implant Center of America in Springfield, MO, has a solution! Using mini dental implants, we’re able to stabilize your dentures by anchoring them to your jaw.
The Consequences of Loose Dentures
Loose dentures float around on your gums, constantly shifting as you move your mouth. Over time, floating dentures create unfortunate consequences, such as:
Irritated gums: As your prosthetic rubs against the soft tissues of your mouth, it causes irritation. This may even lead to denture sores, which make wearing your denture more painful.- Increased risk of infection: When you chew, your denture will lift with every bite. Unfortunately, food tends to slide underneath your prosthetic, getting trapped and attracting bacteria. If left untreated, bacteria increase your risk of oral infection.
- Difficulties with chewing: Chewing involves breaking down food into smaller, more digestible pieces. However, it requires a certain amount of force to chew, which floating dentures often lack. With loose dentures, patients like you struggle to eat tough foods, potentially leading to a lack of nutritional intake.
Fortunately, dental implants replace missing tooth roots, stopping bone resorption in its tracks and stabilizing your denture!
Mini Dental Implants Help Secure Floating Dentures
During your free consultation, we will assess the quality of your jawbone and take 3D digital X-rays. This imaging allows us to determine if you have enough bone to support mini dental implants. The good news is: most patients do! Mini implants are small in diameter, securing even in minimal bone.
We place mini implants using a minimally invasive procedure that doesn’t require any incisions or stitches. Instead, we create a small hole in your gums and bone, and gently screw the implant in place. Once in your bone, mini implants immediately begin stabilizing! In just one appointment, we can place your implants and secure a temporary restoration on top, restoring your smile.
Thanks to their gentle placement procedure, these implants have a quick and comfortable healing period. Any discomfort or pain is easily managed using over-the-counter pain relievers.
Implant Stabilized Denture Options in Springfield, MO
At the Mini Dental Implant Center in America in Springfield, MO, we offer various implant denture options.
Snap-In Dentures
When patients come to us with floating dentures, we often recommend using snap-in dentures to secure their smile!
This prosthetic is like a traditional denture, but stabilized by mini dental implants. By creating housings in the denture base, or spaces large enough to fit the implant posts, we allow your denture to secure to the implants placed strategically around your jaw!
Additionally, these housings feature rubber O-rings that secure the implant in place, allowing you to remove your denture at your convenience. You can take out your prosthetic for easy cleaning, and “snap” it back in securely.
In many cases, we can even use your traditional denture and transform it into a snap-in denture! If your restoration is in good condition, we will add the housings to its base and place mini implants around your jawbone to stabilize it, all in just one day.
Roundhouse Bridges
For patients looking for a more permanent restoration, we also offer roundhouse bridge solutions. These dentures are sleek, requiring less of the traditional denture base. Instead, they secure directly on your implants, mimicking the look and strength of your natural teeth!
With a semi-permanent roundhouse bridge, patients never remove their prosthetic, as only we will during routine visits. In contrast, a permanent roundhouse bridge is never removed. We cement this restoration in place, providing you with a natural-looking and feeling smile.
Goodbye Floating Dentures, Hello Stable Smiles!
Floating dentures cause unfortunate consequences that impact your daily life. Fortunately, with mini dental implants in place, we can stabilize these restorations! By placing implants around your jaw, we anchor your denture in place, restoring your ability to eat and function.
Book a free consultation with the Mini Dental Implant Center of America in Springfield, MO, to determine which implant denture best suits your needs!
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