Dentures vs Dental Implants: What Changes Day to Day

Many people who wear a lower denture know the moment when they bite into something firm and the other end of the denture lifts. Or a fit that felt right a few years ago now needs adhesive to get through dinner.

That change is not the denture wearing out but the jaw underneath it changing shape. Once you see why, dental implants vs dentures stops being a choice between two camps. It becomes a range of three options, and each one treats that bone differently.

Why does a denture feel looser every few years?

A tooth root does a quiet job every time you chew. It passes the force of the bite into the jawbone, and bone keeps only what it is asked to carry. Take the root away, and the body starts reclaiming the ridge that held it.

That happens fast at first. A systematic review of human studies looked at sockets left to heal on their own after an extraction. By six months, the ridge had lost 29 to 63 percent of its width and 11 to 22 percent of its height. The steepest loss came in the first three to six months, and smaller losses followed after that.

A denture does not halt that process, because it presses on the gum instead of loading the bone from inside. A 2016 systematic review cites a study that followed denture wearers for years. The ridge kept shrinking for as long as the study ran. The same review puts the lower jaw's yearly bone loss at about four times the upper jaw's.

The denture itself keeps its shape. So the gap between a rigid base and a shrinking ridge grows, and the denture starts to rock, rub or float. The American Dental Association describes the earliest stage of this. A denture worn while the jaw heals from extractions may need relining or remaking once healing is done.

What does a shrinking ridge change when you eat and talk?

Chewing depends on how hard your teeth can press against each other. A study in the Journal of Dental Research measured bite force the same way in denture wearers, implant denture wearers and people with natural teeth. Bite force alone explained nearly half of the difference in how well people chewed.

The same study found that denture wearers with a low lower ridge chewed less efficiently than denture wearers with more bone left. A smaller ridge gives the denture less to grip, and a denture that shifts is hard to bite down on firmly.

The lower denture usually has the harder job. It sits on a narrow horseshoe of ridge while the tongue and cheeks move around it all day. An upper denture holds by suction against the roof of the mouth, which is why it usually covers the palate. That plate also sits right where your tongue works when you speak.

Dental implants vs dentures: where does each option fit?

Picture a spectrum rather than two choices, where what changes is how much of your bite goes into bone instead of gum. Westlake Dental Care offers all three.

A conventional denture

It rests on the gum and needs no implant surgery. It is usually the shortest route to a full set of teeth, and it usually costs less up front. It comes out for cleaning, and the fit gets checked and may need relining as the ridge changes. For someone who cannot have surgery, or does not want it, it is a real answer. Our earlier post covers what dentures are made of.

A snap-on denture

A snap-on denture, also called implant-retained, clips onto a small number of implants. It still comes out for cleaning, but the implants help stop it lifting and floating and give the bone underneath some load to carry. Many of the studies in the same 2016 review found less ridge loss under implant-retained dentures than under conventional ones. In the bite-force study above, people with implant-retained dentures bit harder than full-denture wearers, though not as hard as people with natural teeth. They also chewed more efficiently than denture wearers with a low lower ridge.

In 2002, an international panel at McGill University went further. It concluded that a lower denture held by two implants should be the first-choice standard of care for a lower jaw with no teeth.

Daily care adds one step. Recall and maintenance guidelines from the American College of Prosthodontists cover it. They advise cleaning both the denture and the implant parts in your mouth at least twice a day with a soft brush. They also advise taking it out while you sleep and seeing a dentist at least every six months.

Fixed full-arch teeth

All-on-4 and All-on-6 attach a whole arch of teeth to four or six implants, and only the dentist removes it. The upper arch needs no plate over the palate. You clean it in place, with a brush and aids like a water flosser around the implants. Of the three options, it sends the most bite through bone. The All-on-4 page walks through how a full arch is planned.

What does the implant route cost in surgery, time and money?

Three facts come first: an implant means a surgery, it needs months to heal, and it costs more than a denture.

The surgery places a small post, usually titanium, in the bone. The bone then has to grow onto the implant surface before it can carry a full bite, which is why the process takes several months. Our post on how dental implants stay in place explains that bond in detail. Your plan includes what you wear while it heals.

Bone decides what is possible. Before anything is booked, a 3D scan shows how much ridge is left and where the nerves and sinuses sit. If the ridge is too thin, bone grafting can often rebuild it, which adds a step and more healing time.

Dr. Tarek plans the implant positions on the scan, and a surgical guide is printed from your own anatomy. In his words, the errors are made on the computer, not in your mouth.

The cost moves with three things: how many implants, whether the bone needs grafting first, and what goes on top. A snap-on denture usually uses fewer implants than a fixed arch. Our post on why dental implants cost what they do breaks that down.

After the exam, you get the plan written down with the numbers on it, broken out by stage. We file insurance when you have it. The financing options page covers CareCredit, Cherry and Proceed Finance, and treatment can often be phased one stage at a time.

How do you find out which option fits your mouth?

The answer depends on your bone, your health and what you want to eat again, so it comes from an exam rather than an article. For implant and denture cases, our complimentary Smile Reveal consult is where the plan gets built. We take records, including a 3D X-ray when the case needs one. At the second visit, you see the 3D plan before anything is scheduled. If you are replacing one tooth or a few, the dental implants page covers those options.

Book an appointment or call (703) 444-5108.