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You waited too long and now you can’t get what you really want.
You have had dentures for years. You are tired of used the denture adhesive to keep them in your mouth, and the adhesive doesn’t quite work as well you like anyway.
You are tired of getting your dentures repaired every few years. They also start fitting comfortably, but it never stays that way.
You were ready to get dental implants, and now you have learned that you can’t.
Or can you?
Before you give up on your dream of implant-supported dentures, make an appointment at the nearest Sunrise Dental locations. Our dentists in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and Cary may be able to help with a set of mini implants instead.
What Are Mini Implants?
You can tell from the name that they are like traditional dental implants, only these are smaller.
Traditional implants are titanium screws that generally have a diameter of 4 or 5 millimeters. Mini implants have a diameter of less than 3 millimeters.
In order to place dental implants, you must have a certain amount of bone in your jaw to secure the implants in place. If you lose too much bone (as a result of your tooth loss), then you may not have enough left when you decide to get implant dentures.
Because mini implants are smaller, they don’t need as much bone to support them.
Are Mini Implants The Only Option?
Not necessarily, but they may be the simplest solution.
We have noted before that your jawbone and your teeth have a mutually beneficial relationship.
Biting and chewing forces the roots of your teeth to press into your jawbone. The jawbone reacts to this pressure by created new tissue. The new tissue replaced older tissue that is resorbed into the bone. It’s this new tissue that keeps your jaw healthy.
A healthy jaw is a strong jaw. That’s also good for your teeth. The new tissue is more capable of holding your teeth in place.
Under normal conditions, this is more than enough. A traumatic injury, however, can cause a tooth to come loose or fall out.
Losing teeth also has a negative effect on your jawbone. Without roots, your jaw won’t feel the pressure that generates new tissue. If the old tissue is resorbed and not replaced, your jaw will lose mass and density. This makes the jaw weaker over time.
This also can explain why dentures can fit right at first but feel uncomfortable later on.
So, what can you do if you lose too much bone to support a set of dentures?
One option is to undergo a bone graft procedure. During a bone graft, bone tissue is transplanted into your mouth. As you heal, the transplanted tissue and the existing bone grow together to create a jaw that can support dental implants.
It may take weeks or months before you have recovered to a point where you are ready to receive your implants.
By getting mini implants, you can save yourself from going through an additional procedure and you can save the time that it would take to heal from that procedure.
What Can Mini Implants Do?
This may be the best thing about mini implants. They may be small, but they are strong enough to do everything that traditional implants can do.
A single missing tooth can be replaced with a mini implant and a dental crown.
Multiple mini implants can be used to support a dental bridge (which is made of multiple crowns) to replace two or more missing teeth.
To bring things back to our introduction, mini implants can be used to support a full set of dentures as well.
Patients who have received implant-supported dentures can tell you how much of a different they can make in their lives. This makes your dentures more like your third set of teeth. You can bite and chew foods that you just can’t with traditional dentures.
Implants won’t restore bone that you have lost, but it will help you maintain the bone that you still have by encouraging new tissue growth. This is can keep your jaw healthy, which will keep your dentures securely and comfortably in place.
Let Us Take A Look
If you have been told that you can’t get dental implants, then you should come to Sunrise Dental. Our dentists will check to see if mini implants may be the option that you need instead.
You can make an appointment online or by calling one of our offices in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, or Cary.