Solutions for Missing Teeth
If you have missing teeth, you may be experiencing a certain degree of discomfort, difficulty chewing or speaking, or dissatisfaction with your appearance.
A few tooth replacement options are available to you, but these options are not all created equal. Having a better understanding of these treatments can help you make an informed decision when it’s time to take the plunge. Let’s explore the different teeth replacement methods available.
Options for Replacing Your Missing Teeth
There are a few different methods of treatment for replacing missing teeth. These options vary in terms of affordability, effectiveness, and stability. Each method has advantages and disadvantages that can help you evaluate your options.
If you’re eager to get to the good part, you can always click here to learn why Stabili-Teeth™ is the easy, affordable, same-day solution to a centuries-old problem.
Method 1: Dental Implants
Dental implants are an effective way to replace your missing teeth, but it is by far the most expensive option. Dental implants are essentially small poles or screws placed inside your jaw or below your gums, but above or on your jaw. Once your mouth heals from this initial procedure, prosthetic teeth are attached to the implants. This fills the gaps from your missing teeth and gives you back some of your functionality.
Most dental implants are made of titanium because it’s a metal that is commonly accepted by the human body. Unfortunately, there’s still a risk of implant failure, despite the prohibitive cost.
There are a couple of different types of dental implants:
Endosteal implants: Endosteal implants are placed into the jawbone so that the bone grows around the implant to hold it in place. These implants are shaped like small screws. To use endosteal implants, you’ll need enough natural bone to be a candidate. For patients with a thin jawbone, augmentation or grafting procedures will be necessary before endosteal implants can be used.
Subperiosteal implants: Subperiosteal implants are placed below the gums. They are placed on or above the jawbone, rather than inside of it. This type of implant is commonly used for patients who do not naturally have enough bone to support an implant but do not want to undergo a bone augmentation procedure. Subperiosteal implants have a much higher failure rate than endosteal implants, ranging from 30 to 50 percent.
Dental implants only work if you have enough bone to support them. If you do not have enough bone to support dental implants properly, you will need to undergo costly extra procedures such as bone augmentation, sinus augmentation, or procedures that extend your jawbone. If you do not want to have this kind of extra work done, dental implants are not the best choice.
Dental implants are invasive, with multiple appointments and a long healing process. Especially if you are getting implants for multiple missing teeth, the process can be a long and uncomfortable one. The more teeth you need replaced, the longer and more expensive the procedure becomes. One implant alone costs several thousand dollars. If there are multiple teeth that you need to replace, the price of the procedure quickly adds up. This makes an already expensive procedure even more costly.
Method 2: Fixed Bridges
Fixed bridges were historically a popular method for replacing teeth, but they have a high failure rate and a short shelf life. A fixed bridge essentially fills the gaps where you have missing teeth, and it is bonded or cemented into place.
Placing a fixed bridge generally requires more than one appointment. At the first appointment, your dentist will prepare your healthy, adjacent teeth so that they can properly support the bridge. This usually entails grinding the teeth down, and the bridge will eventually be cemented down on top of these prepared teeth. Unfortunately, this means that two of your remaining healthy teeth will be damaged to place the bridge.
Fixed bridges can be difficult to clean, and the ADA’s estimated lifespan for fixed bridges is only seven to nine years. This provides less than a decade of support before you have an even bigger problem, adding your bridge-damaged abutment teeth to your dental woes. Bridges’ high failure rate offsets their cost-effectiveness, eliminating any benefit to their low price.
Method 3: Dentures
Dentures are available as removable partial dentures or full dentures. Removable partial dentures typically have prosthetic teeth attached to a base such that when you place the denture into your mouth, the prosthetic teeth fill the gaps where your real teeth are missing. Partial dentures also usually have some form of clasp or other attachment that connects to your adjacent teeth to secure them in place when you are wearing them, and caps or crowns may be placed on the adjacent teeth in order to protect them and make the dentures more secure. Dentures are cheap, but they have many disadvantages. There are better options available in modern-day dentistry.
You can also opt for fixed dentures. With this type of denture, the denture itself is attached to implants placed in your gums. This option offers more security and stability of the denture, but it is a more invasive procedure.
On the whole, dentures take some getting used to and can be uncomfortable. Over time, your dentures will become loose and ill-fitting due to bone loss associated with wearing a denture. This is why it is critically important to go to your dentist to get your dentures adjusted when you notice that they no longer fit well. Ill-fitting dentures, especially if they are not removable, can be more difficult to clean and can lead to an increased risk of tooth decay, gum disease, and other infections.
Dentures can also be easily broken or lost, and they are more susceptible to wear and tear than other tooth replacement options. People with dentures can’t eat sticky foods, hard foods, or chewy foods like steak. They also look unnatural and cannot be worn overnight. Although they tend to be more affordable than implants, they are still not an adequate solution for missing teeth replacement.
The three aforementioned methods of tooth replacement are all popular options, but they all have extreme disadvantages. Weighing your options may leave you feeling at a loss. If none of these options are ideal for you, what is left? Are there any new tooth replacement options that do not come with the downfalls of these traditional methods?
If you are stuck with these questions, we are here to help.
A Modern and Affordable Solution for Tooth Replacement
Stabili-Teeth™ is a modern and affordable solution to traditional tooth replacement methods. It was created as an improvement to the overdenture, and though Stabili-Teeth™ itself is not an overdenture, it expands upon the aspects of a denture that really do work. It provides all of the benefits of the fixed attachable at an affordable price.
Stabili-Teeth™ was created as an alternative to the traditional DENTURES AND FIXED DETACHABLES (as in Clear Choice or All-on-Four) because although dentures have their downfalls, they have been proven to work marginally, while Fixed Detachables work great but the cost remains very high. Stabili-Teeth™ builds off of the concepts that have been successful and improve upon the aspects of a denture that have failed in the past.
The Stabili-Teeth™ treatment process involves a couple of appointments, but you will never be without a functional set of teeth. You will walk out of the office the day of your first treatment with a full set of stable, functional temporary beautiful prosthetic teeth. The final prostheses are then installed once your mouth has healed from the initial implant procedure.
We use a unique combination of narrow diameter implants and conventional-sized implants to give you the best results, and even once the final prostheses are attached, you keep the provisional teeth as a backup. We work hard so that you can bring joy back into your life and enjoy affordable full smile restoration.
Our all-inclusive price, including bone grafting, tooth extraction, and sedation, is $12,500, or $21,500 for full-mouth restoration, making our product much more affordable than traditional implants or dentures. If you are ready to get your life back, schedule your consultation using our simple online form that allows us to appropriately assess your situation. We are here to help.
The Bottom Line
Although a few different solutions exist for replacing missing teeth, all of them come with downfalls that make them less than ideal. Implants cost several thousand dollars to replace a single tooth, and they involve invasive procedures with a long healing process. Fixed bridges require damage to healthy teeth, and they have a short lifespan. Dentures are much more affordable, but where they make up for other options in cost, they lack in stability and longevity.
Stabili-Teeth™ is a reliable, long-term solution that was created to improve upon traditional methods of tooth replacement. If you want to bring joy back into your life, we are here to help you start your journey.
Sources:
ADA Patient Smart | Tooth Replacement Options (ada.org)
Types of Implants & Techniques - Types of implants & techniques (aaid-implant.org)