Dental Implants For
Dentures Cost Explained

Explaining dental implants for dentures cost must take into account the THREE possible denture types. But, whichever way you choose to go, implants can give you rock solid dentures! Denture implants are implants that support a full denture.

A dental implant is like an artificial tooth root. It is usually made of surgical-grade titanium. The dental implant is the part that goes into your jaw bone, and forms the foundation for the teeth that go on top.

But if you are going to have some implants because of a loose denture, why not go for a fixed ceramic bridge? After all, who wants dentures that you can take out, when you could have fixed teeth?

There are two main reasons why not everybody has a fixed ceramic bridge on dental implants;

• cost,

and

• how much jaw bone you have left.

To have a fully fixed ceramic bridge with porcelain teeth supported by implants, you normally need at least 6 implants in the upper jaw, and at least 4 in the lower jaw.

HOWEVER, for implant-supported dentures, you only need 3 or 4 implants in the upper jaw, and as few as 2 in the lower jaw. Fewer implants means LESS COST as far as the implants go.

In addition, an acrylic denture is far less expensive to make than a fixed porcelain bridge.

Also, your jaw may have shrunk down after having your teeth pulled. There may not enough jawbone left to hold a lot of normal-sized implants. (Sometimes it is possible to deal with this by bone grafting, but this adds to the cost and the complexity.)

Dental Implants For Dentures Cost

SO here are the basic options, according to how many implants you can have;

• On TWO dental implants in the lower jaw you can have a full lower acrylic denture with pop studs, so that you can take the denture our and put it back in yourself. It is removable. The two implants with pop studs keep the denture in place and prevent it from 'floating up' when you eat. They also provide a firm base for when you bite down, stopping the denture from pressing on the gum too much. This is the LEAST EXPENSIVE option.
  
• On FOUR dental implants in the upper jaw you can have a full upper acrylic denture that is screwed into place by your dentist, without anything on your palate. You cannot take it out, and it sits very firmly. This is the LEAST expensive option in the upper jaw.
  
• On SIX dental implants in the upper jaw you can have a fixed full upper ceramic bridge with porcelain teeth, without anything on your palate. Again, you cannot take it out yourself - but the dentist can! This is the most expensive option.
  

The intermediate option is also called a hybrid denture or a beam bridge. These names mean the same thing. In recent years, this technique has also been marketed as "All On 4". This refers to replacing all the missing teeth in one jaw on just FOUR implants.

A hybrid denture looks similar to a normal full denture from the outside. It has acrylic teeth and gum-colored acrylic where the gums would be. But looking inside, you would see some big differences.

A hybrid denture has no "palate" in the roof of your mouth. Only the line of teeth and some gum-colored acrylic. On closer inspection, you would also see a row of 4 small holes, about a centimeter apart from each other. These are access channels for small retaining screws.

You see, this design is supported by 4 implants, and is fixed in place by small screws behind the teeth. So it is like a fixed bridge, but it is made of acrylic. It's like the best of both worlds! You have the small profile and minimal bulk of a fixed bridge, but with the less expensive and more easily maintained denture teeth.

Every 6 to 12 months you go along to the dentist, who takes out the little screws, checks and cleans everything, and re-fits the denture. Of course, you should be using an oral irrigator and dental floss to clean under the denture every day, but the dentist cleaning makes sure that any bacteria build-up is removed before it leads to peri-implantitis.

Dental Implants For Dentures Cost

Going back to denture implants for removable dentures! These are dentures that clip onto pop stud retainers on dental implants. You can take the denture out yourself at home, clean it, then click it back into place.

Six denture implants, with "pop studs" visible. Image courtesy Garry Rhyne from makeyourowndentures.net

Inner side of denture, showing the "pop stud" retainers. Image courtesy Garry Rhyne from makeyourowndentures.net

There are some additional advantages to implant dentures:

• They can be very cost effective - you get REALLY SOLID dentures for much less cost than fixed bridgework.

• They are very easy to repair if something breaks. Fixed bridgework is MUCH more complicated and expensive to repair.

• They are relatively simple for a dentist to do. The exact position of the implants is not as critical as it is for fixed bridgework.

• It can be much easier to keep the implants clean; you can take out the dentures, and SEE the tops of the implants. This means you can brush them well, and avoid the gum inflammation that I often see around implant-supported fixed bridgework. This peri-implantitis can lead to implant failure.

• Implant dentures can be made smaller than normal full dentures. Because the implants hold them in place, they don't need to cover as much gum!

So, if you have had full dentures for a few years, and are reasonably happy with them except that they are loose; think about getting some denture implants so that you can have really solid dentures!

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