subject: What the heck is most effective for you, dental implants or dentures? [print this page] What the heck is most effective for you, dental implants or dentures?
My grandmother used dentures from sometime in her 60s. It is rare for anyone to lose their teeth before their in their 80s; but she'd a bad periodontal problem that ran in her family. Although, she tried, she wasn't able to use them for very long. The problem was that as she spoke her teeth would slide around; it was genuinely difficult for her. Because her teeth moved around a lot, chewing was really hard. She also did not like to clean them and additionally maintaining them was really a disgusting chore.
She did not have lots of money, but fortuitously, her 2 kids decide to chip in collectively and resolve the issue. They decided to buy her dental implants. Very few people have the sort of troubles she had, but dental implants fix several dental difficulties.
A lot of people could have dental implants if they did not cost so terribly much. They are pretty danged highly-priced. But there is a valid reason for that.
The dentist will have to put a titanium screw exactly where he needs the tooth to be. If you might be getting five implants, you need 5 titanium screws. After your dentist drills a hole in your jaw and implants a screw, he / she typically places a short-term plastic cover over it. When she implants all of the titanium screws you will need, which can take a while, your dentist has permanent porcelain teeth manufactured to fit on the screws. They usually usually do not do that until the anchoring screws are solidly seated in the jaw.
An advantage of implants, is that they are usually maintenance free. You don't have to take them out and clean them. They don't ever break or get cavities. You could say they are bionic teeth.
The catch is, they're costly. My brother-in-law got some a few years ago, and he had to pay $7000 each. And so, if someone had serious dental difficulties, it could possibly quickly cost them $50,000 if not more, to purchase a mouthful of implants.
Getting a dental bridge may have been an alternative, but that couldn't remedy my grandmother's challenge. She had serious dental problems and didn't have any sturdy teeth to anchor the bridge. Besides that, bridges generally are a serious issue. That's because the dentist has to grind down the teeth on each end of the bridge to anchor it to. Those teeth eventually fail and require root canals. I know that for a fact, because it's happened to me. I've had a bridge over a few of my front teeth, since I was in my teens. It took a long time, but eventually the teeth used to anchor the bridge demanded root canals.
I expect that in a short time, I will need implants as the new anchors for my bridge. Either that, or four implants to replace the whole thing.
Dental implants are the best answer for many, but they are costly. Before you get them, you need to check with your insurance company to see what they will cover. If you're like me, you don't have dental insurance any longer. So when I get my implants, it's up to me to pay for them.
Luckily for me, that isn't a problem yet. With luck ,, the cost of dental implants should come down over the coming years and the technology will improve.
I've recently learned about mini-implants that are advertised to be much cheaper. I was talking to my mother's periodontist last week and he said, that's a fake out. The posts are cheaper, although the finishing touches can be more expensive. So the mini-implant idea is just as expensive as standard implants which are stronger and should last longer.
So do the research before you make your final decision. As I said, technology has been evolving rapidly in this field and by the time you read this there'll be new alternatives for you to select from.
