The jawbone supporting your teeth needs the pressure from chewing and biting to maintain its volume and density. When your teeth are lost, that pressure is gone and the bone around the missing teeth gradually dissolves away. When all your teeth are missing, the entire dental arch gradually loses height and thickness, and causes the lower third of your face to collapse.
The pressure on your jaw caused by dentures actually accelerates this bone loss and facial collapse. This is why dentures repeatedly come loose over time and need to be relined or refit. As the jawbone continues to shrink, it will be harder and harder to make the dentures fit well at all.
Dental implants can be used to retain dentures so they will not slip and become loose. Implants are placed in the jaw with special attachments that snap into corresponding pieces on the underside of the denture. This keeps the denture from slipping or falling out, and eliminates the need for adhesives. However, this system does not provide the increased chewing pressure needed to prevent further loss of bone.
The strongest and most stable solution is to have new teeth fixed onto the implants. Our doctors can place four specially designed implants in your arch that stably support a full-arch set of fixed-in new teeth. These new teeth will have 80% of full chewing power, won’t slip or irritate your gums, and will provide the chewing pressure that prevents further bone loss.
Known as the “All-on-4” procedure, even patients who have severe bone loss can receive this treatment without needing any bone grafting… And in the vast majority of cases, we can perform the entire procedure and have you walk out with new replacement teeth in one visit!
