If you have missing teeth, it is likely that several solutions have been suggested to you during your last checkup at Maniscalco Cosmetic & General Dentistry in Birmingham, AL. Among the viable solutions would be dental implants and dentures. They are the two most obvious, and yet they are very different.
As your dentist in Birmingham, we would most often point towards the dental implants because they allow you to retain bone and gum tissue, leading to truly optimal oral health over the long term. However, we are well aware that the time and financial commitment they demand may not be in your budget. This is why dentures are the next thing we would recommend.
Of course, we also strongly suggest a third path that is only now emerging as a wonderful compromise, and that is the use of implant supported dentures. These would require only a few dental implants, which would be fitted with crowns and used to fix them in place permanently. This offers you the support of the posts in your jaw and gum, but keeps costs under control.
If dentures alone are your chosen route, it is important to note that today’s are nothing like those of earlier decades. The ones we create for you, whether full or partials, will fit well, offer full functionality, and will be entirely impossible to identify as dentures. We use only the most high-tech methods of measuring our patients for their dentures, and that means that you won’t experience moments of mortification because they slide out or slip around when you are speaking or eating.
The process of obtaining dentures begins with a full assessment of your particular situation. You may have only a few missing teeth, and this would be the time for partials. However, if you are likely to lose more teeth, we may suggest extraction of the remaining teeth and the creation of a full denture instead.
Getting dentures does not mean the end of regular dental care, though. You must still have exams that check for any decay in remaining teeth, and problems with the gums, and any signs of oral cancer. We must also be sure they fit properly, and can make adjustments if needed. Modern dentures will last for five years or more before they will need to be replaced.