Dental Implants – Manchester’s Better Alternative to Conventional Dentures

04 March 2019

Dental Implants – Manchester’s Better Alternative to Conventional Dentures

When it comes to missing teeth replacement, both dental implants in Manchester and conventional dentures are viable options. While implants require a surgical process, the other (conventional dentures in Manchester) do not. In addition, dentures can be fitted in as little as 4-6 weeks, whereas implants can take considerably longer. So despite the fact that implants are initially more expensive, warrant a surgical procedure and take longer to fit, why then are implant based restorations considered better than conventional dentures? Our cosmetic dentist in Manchester explains…

Despite the fact that dentures or ‘false teeth’ as they’re commonly known conjure up images of older family members wrestling with them, the fact remains that modern-day dentures have come a long way. Nowadays dentures are more lifelike and therefore far less obvious than their predecessors. In fact, you’d be hard pushed to tell if someone was wearing dentures or not. What’s more, for those with multiple missing teeth, they’re a vitally important solution, restoring form, function and in many cases, confidence. That said, conventional dentures are not without their problems, one in particular…bone loss

The issues of bone loss and why conventional dentures in Manchester aren’t the answer.

In order to understand the problems of bone loss, we have to first go back to the time when the tooth was initially lost. From the moment a tooth is missing, the bone tissue that once supported the tooth root is deemed surplus to requirements. As such, the calcium is reabsorbed back into the body and directed to other areas where it is more needed. Unfortunately, this is an ongoing process that causes on average around 25% bone loss in the jaw area within the first year. In other words, the shape of the jaw bone will change considerably.

So, while conventional dentures in Manchester have the ability to restore both function and aesthetics, they aren’t able to halt the bone loss process. Amongst other problems such as ageing, it can also impact on other healthy teeth.

So what does this mean for denture wearers?

Quite simply, what were once snug fitting and comfortable dentures are likely to become loose over time. The looser they become, the more uncomfortable they are. This can lead to painful rubbing and denture slippage issues. Often this only increases the anxiety of conventional denture wearers  In fact, out of the 11 million denture wearers in the UK, one survey suggests that wearing dentures makes around 69% of them look, feel and behave differently.  For this reason dentures will need continual adjustment and eventually, replacement every 5-10 years.

Dental Implants in Manchester – The permanent answer

With this in mind, could a more permanent solution in the form of dental implants be a solid solution? Our cosmetic dentist in Manchester explains…

It might not look much, but a dental implant is in fact a highly accomplished piece of kit, mixing state-of-the-art engineering with clever biomimicry techniques. Let’s explain…

In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the actual tooth root part of the implant (the bit that gets anchored into the jawbone) is made from titanium. That’s exactly the same material used on high tech machinery such as the Space Shuttle and Formula 1 racing cars!

While titanium is both lightweight and extremely durable, it isn’t perhaps these ‘space age’ qualities that shout out the importance of the use of titanium in your everyday dental implant. Instead it’s the capability of the metal to attract bone.

If you know anything about how implants came about, it was this ground-breaking capability that turned an experiment first performed on rabbits to observe the anatomy of blood flow, into the accidental discovery of something known as osseointegration.

In basic terms, osseointegration is the ability for bone tissue to merge and fuse with an inserted object. In this case the titanium implant.

So why is this important?

Simply because when the titanium tooth root is anchored into the missing tooth space, it tricks the remaining bone tissue into thinking that it is in fact a tooth root. Then, given time, the remaining bone tissue fuses and merges with the implant to create one super-strong structure. The body then detects that the bone tissue supporting the tooth root is in fact useful and as such, it’s no longer necessary to reabsorb the calcium from that area, hence…the bone loss process is halted. Ultimately this means no more bone shrinkage, no more sagging facial skin and ultimately, no more ageing looks.

But what about people with multiple missing teeth?

While implant-based restorations are perfect for replacing missing teeth on a one for one basis, there’s no getting away from the fact that dental implants in Manchester, and indeed anywhere else in the UK are initially expensive. Sometimes up to 3 times more so. As a result, it just wouldn’t be feasible with regards to surgery time and cost to replace a whole row of teeth on a one-for-one basis.

So is there a real-time solution?

In a word… over-dentures!

Implant retained dentures such as All-on-4 have the ability to replace entire rows or arches of missing teeth using just 4 strategically placed dental implants. The idea is that the dentures are clipped on to the implants and can be easily removed whenever you like.

The advantages of these are that some or much of the bone loss process is halted, but in addition there’s:

• No more necessary and time consuming adjustments

• A strong guarantee that your implant-supported dentures aren’t ever going to move and finally,

• They’re pretty permanent, meaning no more denture replacements every 5-10 years.

All in all, if you look at it in the long-term, dental implants in Manchester can reinvigorate any denture to the point where you no longer have to worry about your false teeth and surely, peace of mind is what this is all about right?

If you’re a long-term denture wearer and would like to find out more about how dental implants in Manchester can benefit you, then come and talk to our cosmetic dentist. Manchester, based Church Road Dental and Cosmetics are a well-respected dental clinic in Cheadle Hulme, so why don’t you give us a call today and see what all the fuss is about. To reserve your no-obligation consultation, call the team on 0161 486 0743.