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Should you need all of your teeth replaced by some prosthesis, those false teeth could
be either on a normal denture which you take in and out. Now, the advantage of the denture
is that it's probably around about $1,500 to $2,000 for a denture. Its disadvantage
is that in the bottom jaw the bone tends to shrink quite quickly, so that a lot of people
have trouble eating with the bottom denture, that it's clacking around, they fall out when
they're laughing, they can't eat apples. So a lot of people might be socially embarrassed
as well about those same issues. So should you have those problems or should you wish
something alternative, two implants in the bottom jaw is a highly predictable procedure
for retaining a denture. So if your concern is that your teeth are moving around everywhere
and are loose, then two implants can allow quite a firm grip there of the implant, so
you won't need any denture glue or like to hold onto that one.
In contrast, if your concern is that every time you bite on foods that your gums are
sore, that you've got so much recession and shrinkage of the bone and gum that there's
no support given to the gums, you may actually need something more in the form of either
a fully fixed prosthesis. So this is four implants here permanently retaining an acrylic
bridge and, depending on how heavy your bite is and a number of other factors, including
your lip profile and how much support these teeth give to the cosmetics of the display
of your top lip. So if you achieve a lot of plumpness of your top lip with teeth in and
when you take your dentures out your lip collapses in, then you may actually need -- although
some people want to have a permanently fixed prosthesis, they may need this acrylic ***,
this pink component, to keep that lip plumped up. And again, this is a removable prosthesis
-- just having a bit of trouble there -- so in the top jaw sometimes you might decide,
for different reasons, to have four implants to retain that denture. Or you may permanently
fix it there on four implants as well. Again, the number of implants is really dependent
on your situation. Whether it's four or six in the top jaw does depend on how many teeth
you want placed back there and what's on the lower arch. If you've got natural teeth down
here that's going to put more load on these top teeth, so you're probably going more head
towards six implants on the top jaw. If in contrast you have a denture down the bottom
that's chewing on this, they're not going to give as much force against this appliance
up the top, so we may decide that four implants is sufficient to hold that sort of prosthesis.
Other people that are really abhorrent about the whole idea of ever socially having to
remove teeth really would go for a fixed prosthesis and that may be in the form of more implants,
this person having six implants to hold that permanently in place.
So a number of factors are considered when you're planning the full arch to be replaced
by teeth that are held onto implants. Primarily, what are your concerns that we're trying to
address and how much benefit is this acrylic *** giving to your cosmetic profile with
the plumpness of the lip? So you really need a consultation in combination with CAT scans
to determine have you got enough bone in the right areas?