3 Reasons You Should Consider Switching From Traditional Dentures To Overdentures

Traditional dentures can refer to either a full or partial plate of artificial teeth or abutments attached to a firm tray that fits down over the gums. Full dentures fit snugly over the gums and that provides the only support. Partial dentures accommodate natural teeth spaced between the gaps and have metal hooks on each end to latch around natural teeth for more support.

But traditional full or partial dentures aren't the best match for every patient. If you have found your denture experience wanting, you should consider overdentures, which use dental implant roots to hold the dentures in place.

What are a few of the reasons you should consider switching from traditional dentures to overdentures?

Greater Stability Means Less Discomfort

The dental implant roots are screw-like metal pieces that the dentist inserts into holes drilled into your jawbone. For a set of partial or full overdentures, you should only need a few of the roots to hold the plates in place rather than a root for each individual missing tooth.

The roots are positioned so as to offer the greatest stability to the plate. The stability means that the plate won't shift around when you speak or eat. Shifting tends to cause discomfort and can lead to soft tissue abrasions. The overdentures won't pose the same discomfort risk.

No Need to Remove the Dentures for Cleaning

Traditional dentures are removed for cleaning both the dentures and the gums underneath. Denture removal also becomes necessary when a plate stops fitting properly and your dentist needs to create new molds and a new set of dentures.

Overdentures are fixed, which means you aren't supposed to remove the dentures. The setup of overdentures means that you can simply brush the dentures like teeth. There's not enough space between the bottom of the denture plate and your gums for bacteria to become trapped there.

You also won't need to remove the dentures for resizing because these dentures don't need to straddle your jawbone for the perfect fit.

Provides Some Jawbone Health Protection

One reason traditional dentures start to fit poorly is that the jawbone starts to deteriorate after the loss of natural teeth, which provide a friction that keeps the jawbone healthy. The dental implant roots can provide that same type of friction and keep jawbone health thriving in the areas of the roots.

The one caveat is that with full dentures in particular you only have a few dental roots compared to a whole mouth of false teeth. So the jawbone health protection will be limited.