Implant Dentures – Lincoln, Nebraska
Fully Renewed & Full Functional Smiles
Following the loss of many teeth or your full smile, you are likely feeling stressed, uncomfortable, or even embarrassed. For Lincoln, Nebraska area residents, your dedicated dentist, Jennifer A. Reed, DDS, offers a number of tooth replacement options for a single tooth or a complete set of dentures. That includes innovative and effective dental implant supported tooth replacement solutions. When you’re ready to get started with your tooth replacement plan, call Dr. Reed and the Smile Specialties team to schedule your restoration consultation in our dental office in Lincoln. We look forward to helping you put the healthy, functional smile back on your face.
How Do Implant-Retained Dentures Work?
Traditional partial and full dentures use a gum-colored base material to support numerous replacement teeth. These dentures are removable. The partials are held in position using clasps attached to remaining teeth, and full dentures are anchored through suction between the gums and the base material. An implant denture uses two to six dental implant posts to provide increased stability for the denture.
Am I A Candidate for Implant-Retained Dentures?
Advances in recent years allow more patients than ever before to be great candidates for implant-retained dentures. The ideal candidate for implant supported dentures would meet all of the following qualifications:
- Relatively good oral and overall health.
- Have approval from a medical physician to receive a minimally invasive surgical procedure.
- Have no negative responses to surgery or anesthesia in the past.
The Implant-Retained Dentures Procedure
The implant supported denture placement process is completed over several phases of treatment. After we’ve carefully planned your implant denture restoration, we may need to perform one or more preparatory treatments, including tooth extraction and bone or soft tissue grafts. Once your smile is prepared, we will surgically position your dental implant posts and attach a protective cap over the top of the implant posts. These protective caps allow the implants to heal while maintaining the shape of your gum tissue until the replacement tooth is placed. Over several months, your implants will stabilize and fuse with the gum and bone tissue. When the implants are fully fused with the supportive structure, we place the abutment posts that attach the implant to the replacement tooth. After placing the abutments, we will design your denture. Once we receive the final denture from our dental lab, we’ll anchor it to the abutments, recreating your flawless smile.
Benefits of Combining Dentures & Dental Implants
We understand that the implant supported dentures process is lengthy and the costs can be high, but for many patients, the added benefits of implant dentures make them well worth the initial investment. Some of the benefits of dental implants to keep in mind include:
- Stability – compared with traditional dentures that restore about 20% of chewing ability significantly limiting your diet, implant dentures replace 70% or more of your natural chewing function. This means you can eat all of your favorite foods and speak and smile with confidence in every situation.
- Longevity – traditional partial and full dentures need to be replaced, relined, or repaired every five to ten years to ensure proper function and comfortable fit. Your implant denture can last two to three decades or longer with proper care.
- Oral health – the implant posts replace the lost tooth roots, providing the stimulus necessary to maintain jawbone density and gum tissue volume. This is especially beneficial compared to traditional partial and full denture that place pressure on the gums and supportive bone tissue, causing them to breakdown more quickly.
