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Is there a Soft Denture?

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I have a denture and it is driving me bananas. I have a strong gag reflex and the hard plate is making it hard for me to get through my day with teeth in. I am hoping there is such a thing as a soft denture that will make it easier for me to handle this.

Judy

Dear Judy,

dentures

 

There is not such a thing as a soft denture, but there is something like a soft lining. These can be used to line the inside of the denture and are helpful for patients who have bony ridges. This protects the ridge of their jawbone from getting sores. They help the lower denture to become more comfortable. They are more expensive and do not last very long so they will have to be replaced.

Unfortunately, this will not help with your upper denture. The plate is necessary to create a stable framework. There is not anything pliable that will work in that case.

The best solution for you would be to get fixed implant dentures. This entails having some dental implants surgically placed, then your dentures can be anchored to them. This will prevent you from needing that plate at all because the implants retain the dentures for you. They will be completely secure.

An even bigger benefit is it will prevent facial collapse. When your teeth were first removed, your body recognized that and began to resorb the minerals in your jawbone. It does this because it realizes that you no longer need to support the teeth and it wasn’t to be as efficient with the resources in your body as possible. After about ten or so years, you will no longer have enough minerals in your jawbone to retain your dentures. This is known as facial collapse.

The dental implants placed in your body, serve as prosthetic tooth roots. This signals to your body that you still have tooth roots, which means it will preserve your jawbone in order to keep your teeth in place.

This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

What If I’m Can’t Afford Dental Implants?

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I feel absolutely helpless at the moment. I feel like my teeth can’t be saved and trying to has almost bankrupted me. I had seven children and vomited almost daily during my pregnancies, which did a number on my teeth. Then, as soon as I was done having children, when I thought I’d get to take a break and take care of myself for a change, I was diagnosed with cancer. The radiation and chemo have also done a number on my teeth. They are literally crumbling. My dentist said I need to get dental implants but there is no way I can afford them. What if the only thing I can do is afford dentures? Will it be as horrible as my dentist is hinting?

Kristin

Dear Kristin,

An image showing before and after facial collapseI am so sorry for all you have been through. Let’s see if we can figure out some helpful solutions for you. First, understand the reason your dentist is pushing you toward dental implants.

When your teeth are removed, your body recognizes there are no roots of your teeth to support. In order to be as efficient as possible with your body’s resources, it will then start to resorb the minerals in your jawbone in order to use them where they are more needed. This has the unfortunate side effect of shrinking your jawbone. After about ten to twenty years, you will no longer have enough jawbone left to even keep your dentures in. This is known as facial collapse.

Having dental implants placed signals to your brain that you still have teeth that need to be supported. As a result, it leaves the minerals of your jawbone in place. This is the ideal solution. Rarely, however, is life ideal.

One thing you can do is only get implants on your lower arch. This is the most important when it comes to facial collapse because the dentures actually rest on the ridge of your jawbone. Your upper arch is held in by suction so you are safer to leave those with dentures.

If you can’t afford to do full implant overdentures on your lower arch, then maybe see if snap on dentures are a possiblity for you. This can use as few as two dental implants and will at least preserve some of your jaw.

I hope this helps and that the remainder of your treatment goes well.

This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

How Far Back Should My Dentures Go?

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I had to get lower dentures. I still have my wisdom teeth. on my top arch. Because of that, I am literally chewing on my lower wisdom teeth gums. My dentist does not seem to understand why this is a problem. Shouldn’t the denture go back to where the wisdom teeth are?

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

A complete set of removable dentures with a pink acrylic base and white teeth.

While getting removable dentures is never really completely comfortable, your dentist is allowing unnecessary pain in this situation. I suspect he just doesn’t want to fix it because it would mean starting over for him.

Your denture actually should have covered the wisdom teeth to begin with, as well as go a little past that area to what is called the retromolar pad. While they can’t cover the entire retromolar pad or it will interfere with an upper denture, they can cover a bunch of it and, as I said, it can cover the entire wisdom tooth area.

If you have already paid for the denture, you may not have leverage. However, you can tell him that you spoke to another dentist and learned that he should have covered that area. If he still doesn’t make this right, then tell him you are going to be sharing a review that he doesn’t make his products correctly and then refuses to fix them.

The Big Danger with Completely Removable Dentures

Implant overdentures

Implant Overdentures

I don’t know if your dentist warned you about this, but it is important so I am going to mention it here. Once your teeth are removed, your body senses this. As a result, it will begin redistributing the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body. It does this in an effort to be as efficient as possible with your body’s resources. Unfortunately, it does have the nasty side effect of slowly shrinking your jawbone. After ten or so years, you will not have enough jawbone left to keep your denture in. This is known as facial collapse and why you often see denture wearers with skwunched up faces and their dentures falling out all the time.

The way to prevent this is to have implant overdentures placed instead of completely removable dentures. The implants serve as prosthetic tooth roots, which signals to your body that you still have teeth there. As a result, it leaves your jawbone alone thereby preventing facial collapse.

Additionally, it also takes care of all the other negative issues that come up with dentures. You’ll find your quality of life goes up exponentially with implant overdentures than it would with removable dentures, including your ability to eat. With dental implant support, you can eat anything you want. Even the best fitting removable dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%.

This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

Help! My Dentures Won’t Stay In?

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Can you tell me if there is a solution to a problem I’m having? I’ve been in dentures for 20 years. Recently, I can’t even keep them in with those adhesives. I went to see a dentist and they told me I didn’t have a ridge anymore and that was part of having dentures. Is there any way to fix this?

Laura

Dear Laura,

An image showing before and after facial collapse

What you are dealing with is known as facial collapse and while your dentist is right that it is part of dentures, he left out the solution. This occurs because when your teeth are removed, your body immediately recognizes that. In an effort to be as efficent with your body’s resources, it begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone in order to use them elsewhere in your body. The problem with that for you is that your jawbone begins to shrink. After ten or so years, you no longer have enough jawbone left to retain your dentures because the ridge is no longer there to hold them in place.

That being said, there is a solution. I am not sure why your dentist didn’t tell you about it unless he doesn’t know how to do the procedures necessary. However, he could have referred you to someone who does.

Fixing Facial Collapse

The first thing that needs to happen is the building up of the bone. This can be done with a bone grafting procedure. Once that is healed, you have a couple of choices. You now have your ridge back. You can just get new dentures. However, the whole cycle of facial collapse will start over again.

If you want to permanently keep that bone in place, I recommend you get dental implants placed. Then, your dentist can anchor the dentures onto them. This is known is implant overdentures. Not only, will you never have to worry about facial collapse, but your dentures will never move again. They will be completely secure. You’ll find your quality of life goes up tremendously.

I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

Can I Get Gold Teeth Placed in My Dentures?

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I am 45 and have very bad teeth. I’m about to get rid of them and get dentures. I am excited about the idea of getting to plan how my teeth look and was hoping to get one gold tooth put there. My dentist acted like I was crazy. Is this a possibility or am I asking for too much?

Dina

Dear Dina,

A complete set of removable dentures with a pink acrylic base and white teeth.

Yes, it is possible to get a gold tooth placed in a denture. It sounds like this was more not to your dentist’s taste. If he or she is basing your treatment on how they like the appearance, they might not be the best dentist for you. Especially when it comes to the aesthetics of a smile, it is the patient who should have the final word.

You won’t be the first person to have a gold tooth placed in their dentures and you certainly won’t be the last. Some people want the entire tooth gold; some just want it outlined in gold; some want something completely different. In order to be certain you get what you want, it would be safer to bring your dentist an image of what you want the result to look like.

Dentures and Facial Collapse

The results of facial collapse

One thing your dentist should have mentioned is what happens when your teeth are removed. You are only 45 years old and the long-term consequences of dentures can be rather severe. When your teeth are removed, your body recognizes that. As a means of being as efficient with your body’s resources as possible, it takes the minerals that were in your jawbone to help keep the tooth roots in place and resorbs them to use in other places where it perceives the minerals will be more useful. This has the unfortunate effect of slowly shrinking your jawbone. After about ten or so years, you will no longer have enough jawbone left to retain your dentures.

The good news is that there is a way to prevent this. Instead of getting completely removable dentures, you can get implant overdentures. With this procedure, you will place between four to six dental implants in the arch. Then a set of dentures is anchored to the implants. Your body interprets the implant prosthetics as tooth roots and will preserve your bone structure as a result. There are other benefits too. For instance, no matter how well fitting removable dentures are, your chewing capacity will be reduced by 50%. With implant supported dentures, they are completely secure and you can eat whatever you want without anything moving around.

This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

Why Do Dentist Want Me to Have Dentures?

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I have a disaster of a smile. I always need a ton of work on my teeth. I am willing to invest in them and fix them, but it seems like all my dentist ever recommends is the most aggressive treatment possible. I have two teeth he just wants to pull and put in partial dentures. I’m only 32 and I feel like my life is over if I’m already getting dentures. Is there another option for me?

Patty

Dear Patty,

woman smiling with dentist behind her

The Best Dentists Try to Save Your Teeth

I’m going to tell you right off the bat that this is not going to be the best dentist for you. Some smiles are high maintenance. You can do everything right with your oral hygiene but they still end up needing a lot of work. Just as teeth vary, so do dentists. You have some that will just not want to put in the effort to deal with your smile. Others will make every effort to save as many teeth as possible.

My first recommendation for you is to get a second opinion on whether or not these two teeth can be saved. It may be you will not even need to worry about a tooth replacement. For argument’s sake, though, let’s say the teeth cannot be saved. Your dentist was under an ethical obligation to give you all the options available to you — not just the easiest for him.

There Are Other Tooth Replacement Options

Removable partial dentures are probably the worst option for you. If we want to go to the other end of the spectrum and tell you the best option, I would recommend dental implants. These are like having a healthy natural tooth in your mouth again. Though, they are pricey and surgery is required because they place a prosthetic root in your jaw to mimic your natural tooth. You’ll also want to find a dentist with post-doctoral training in dental implants because it is quite an advanced procedure.

If you decide that is out of range for you, the next best option is a dental bridge. This will suspend a false tooth between two dental crowns. Of course, that means the two adjacent teeth will have to be crowned, but if they happen to need work anyway, they may be a great option for you.

Find a dentist willing to put in the work and give you all your options.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

Can I Get Dental Implants After 30 Years in Dentures?

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I have been wearing dentures for close to thirty years. Because of that, I have not had a pretty smile in many years. Plus, my dentures don’t even stay in anymore. I think they have stretched out over the years. A friend of mine has dental implants and her smile is beautiful. Is it too late for me to get a beautiful smile with dental implants?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

Implant overdentures

Implant Overdentures

Technically, you can get dental implants at any time. However, the length of time that you have been in dentures means you are dealing with facial collapse. I don’t know if your dentist warned you when you first received your dentures, but this is one of the downsides to dentures. When your teeth were removed, your body recognized that and began resorbing the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere. While this is a remarkably efficient way of preserving your body’s resources, it does have the unfortunate side effect of slowly shrinking your jawbone. At this point, you probably have very little jawbone left. This is actually the reason why your dentures are not staying in.

Before you get the implants, you will need to build back up that bone structure again. This can be done with a bone grafting procedure. Once that is completed, you will need some healing time. From there, it will be time to get your dental implant procedure going. Because you were in full dentures, you will get implant overdentures, which is much more affordable than trying to replace each and every tooth with a dental implant.

Getting a Pretty Smile

Getting a beautiful smile has very little to do with whether you have dentures or dental implants. Instead, it is based on the skill of your dentist in cosmetic procedures. Dentures can be made to look stunning and dental implants can look fake. It all depends on the skill of the dentist. I would ask whatever dentist you choose to work with to see his smile gallery. This is a brag book of sorts that shows before and after pictures of cases he’s worked on. You’ll want a dentist who gets beautiful results. If they do not have a smile gallery, that means they do not do enough cosmetic work and likely cannot give you the beautiful smile you have been hoping for.

This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.

This Full-Mouth Reconstruction is a Disaster

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I need some help. My teeth were in bad shape. I’ve had six dental implants placed and the dentist is placing crowns on the remaining teeth. The implants are done and now he’s on the dental crowns. It doesn’t feel like the sides of my mouth are even. The teeth on one side hit, but not the other. My jaw hurts all the time. While it ached a little before the treatment happened, now it is constant. My dentist said he meets all the checkpoints and thinks I am just not used to having crowns in my mouth. How long should it take me to get used to this? What if I don’t?

Emma

Dear Emma,

woman holding her jaw in pain

Whenever you are crowning all the teeth, the way your dentist is, it is known as a full-mouth reconstruction. This is a very advanced procedure and very few dentists can do it well. I am not certain your dentist has the training necessary to do this correctly and it sounds like you are going to have a disaster on your hands. Your dentist said he met all the checkpoints. However, one of the basic checkpoints is that the teeth come together naturally and simultaneously. His comment that you are just not used to having dental crowns doesn’t give me any more confidence in him either. When dental crowns are done properly, you don’t notice them at all. There is no “getting used to them”.

The reason you are in so much pain is your teeth are not occluding properly. This is essential and will only lead to more severe problems if not repaired. So, where do you go from here?

My suggestion is you find a qualified dentist to look at your case. I suspect it will need to be redone. Look for a dentist who has done extensive training with one or more of the following post-doctoral training institutes:

  • The Pankey Institute
  • The Dawson Academy
  • The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies

Based on your description, I think the case will need to be re-done. Have the dentist check your dental implants as well. If you only need the crowns re-done and not the implants, ask for a refund on crowns only. If both need to be replaced, my suggestion, in that case, is instead of a refund you ask for him to pay to have the work replaced at the dentist of your choosing. This is because the cost of replacing implants is more than the original procedure— a result of needing bone grafting to replace the bone lost during the removal of the original implants.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. David Marion who tries to be the best dentist in Duluth, GA.

Can I Whiten My Dental Implant?

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I had a dental implant placed. It isn’t on a front tooth but it is visible when I smile. Recently, I had my teeth whitened, but the dental implant tooth didn’t whiten at all. Now it is really obvious that it is fake because the rest of my teeth are so much whiter than this one tooth. What do I use to whiten the dental implant?

Maxwell

Dear Maxwell,

illustration of a dental implant next to a tooth

I will say that I am frustrated on your behalf. It seems neither your dentist or implant dentist understands how dental implants or teeth whitening works. When you have your teeth whitened, it will only whiten your natural teeth. The dental crown on your implant will be the same.

Because of that, a wise dentist who is providing dental implants will make sure their patients are aware if they want to whiten their teeth at some point, it will be better for them to do so before their implant crown is made. Once that color is made it is permanent.

That doesn’t mean you will be stuck with an ugly tooth. The solution is to have the implant crown replaced. It can be re-made to match your new whiter color. This does cost more, which is why I always recommend whitening get done first.

It is a shame that you were not advised of this ahead of time.

This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David P. Marion.