If you are a senior considering dental implants, you may have to worry about issues other dental patients don't have to think about. For example, you may need more time to recover after receiving your implants. My name is Jodi, and I've been working with seniors for years. I decided to create this blog to help the seniors I can't meet in person. In this space, I'm going to post entries on everything related to dental implants and seniors. From tips on flossing implants after arthritis has claimed some of your dexterity, to guiding you through the implants-vs-dentures debate, this blog is designed for you. Thanks for reading. I hope you find what you need!
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If you've been wearing dentures for some time now, you might find that they do not fit as well as they used to. This is not unexpected and in fact is quite commonplace, but dentists can generally help you to restore your full functionality and comfort. What are the options you may have in this situation?
Assessing Your Needs
To understand what issues you're having, the dentist will first of all need to ask a number of questions. They'll want to know if you're able to chew food successfully and just how functional your bite actually is. They'll want to see what level of wear and tear has been caused to the dentures over time and determine whether you're satisfied with the way that they look now. If you are generally satisfied and they are not too worn down, then you may be a candidate to have the dentures refitted.
This is not necessarily a permanent measure and down the road you may need to consider either having new dentures made or an alternative such as implants. However, relining dentures can take into account the fact that a certain amount of bone loss has occurred since you had the set initially fitted.
Why Is Adjustment Necessary?
Usually, what happens is that the pressure caused when you eat causes the tissues underneath the denture set to compress and as this happens, a certain amount of loss can be expected in the gum tissue and the bone structure. While this is a fairly slow process, it nevertheless causes an issue with the fitment of the dentures, especially the lower set which is subject to less "suction" than the above.
Fixing the Issue
Firstly, the dentist will need to take an impression of the area underneath the dentures, so that material can be created to fill any void that is present. Secondly, a more permanent solution can be suggested by adding material to the actual denture itself on the underside. Once this is done in the dentist's chair, the whole denture can be sent to a lab where a special type of plastic known as methacrylate will be added.
Better Options?
You should understand that technology has advanced a long way in recent times and the dentist may have a number of different options to discuss with you. For example, you may need to think about having several implants inserted, which can provide a very stable "anchor" for a new type of denture. You won't need to have a complete set of teeth implanted in this way, but just a few that can then provide a better solution for added dentures.
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