Patients who have lost all of their upper teeth usually feel miserable wearing full dentures.
The main disadvantages of wearing a full denture:
- Looseness while eating and talking
- Poor taste due to the large piece of acrylic that covers the palate
- Low self-esteem because they associate dentures with older people and thus feel older themselves
With recent advances in implant dentistry , it is now possible for patients who has lost all their upper teeth to have fixed teeth again with dental implants .
FAQ on full arch teeth replacement with dental implants.
This will depend on the amount of bone available and whether any bone grafting is required. If you are a full denture wearer for many years, some form of bone grafting is required before dental implants can be placed.
external sinus lift , ramus block graft, hip graft.
Depending on the type and amount of bone grafting, the dental implant process will take between 4 – 12 months.
With modern dental implant techniques, you should not feel any pain during the procedure. For patients who are more anxious about the procedure, the surgery can be done under sedation in the clinic. Sedation will relax you during the procedure and the best part is that you will not remember the procedure afterwards.
You will not be without teeth for any prolonged period as we can reline your existing full denture with a comfortable soft liner and you can leave the clinic with your original set of teeth.
With recent advances in dental implant surgical techniques and bone grafting materials, most full denture patients can have dental implants. However, in some instances where the bone shrinkage is too great , dental implants will be contraindicated.
You have to come in for a thorough clinical and x-ray examination. Our in- office Cone Beam Ct Scan will provide an accurate 3 dimensional assessment of the amount of jaw bone available for dental implants and whether any bone grafting is required.
Modern dental implants have a success rate of 95 %
Implant retained fixed bridge upper jaw
In order to decide on a upper fixed implant bridge , the following factors have to considered
- Is there enough jaw bone for dental implant placements
- If there is bone deficiency, what is the extent of bone losts. Can bone grafting be done to correct jaw bone deficiency
- If bone grafting is required, what bone grafting techniques and material is required
- Costs involved
- Time required.
If there is good bone throughout the upper jaw, each missing tooth can be replaced with a dental implant ( tooth for tooth implant replacement). However , such cases are rare for the upper jaw. In the majority of patients, only a limited number of implants can be placed .This is due to the lack of jaw bone as the upper jaw bone shrinks rapidly on removable of teeth. Therefore, some form of implant retained bridge is required. The most common question asked by patients is how many implants are required to support a dental implant retained fixed bridge.
In most patients, there is a lack of bone in the front area of the upper jaw for placement of dental implants. Generally, it is more difficult to do bone grafting in the front of the upper jaw compared to the back of the upper jaw.
To simplify the dental implant treatment procedure, a sufficient number of dental implants must be placed at the back of the upper jaw so that a fixed bridge can be done. Generally, 8 to 10 implants are required to support a full arch fixed bridge. Usually, some form of Sinus Lift bone grafting is required
( see link bone grafting : External Sinus Lift , Internal Sinus Lift )
Some patients lose their upper molars much earlier than their incisors. As a result, there is ample bone in the front of the upper jaw but on the other hand there is a lack of jaw bone at the back.
In such cases, implants can be placed solely in the front of the upper jaw to support a full arch implant retained cantilever bridge. The advantage in this case is that no sinus lift bone grafting is required. The disadvantage is that it is not indicated for patients with heavy bite.
Implant retained over-denture for upper jaw
For the upper jaw ,the minimum number of implants to retain an upper denture is 4. The dental implants will stabilize and improve the retention of the upper denture. Most patients find that with implant retained over-denture, eating efficiency and comfort is greatly improved as a result.
FAQ on full arch teeth replacement with dental implants.
This will depend on the amount of bone available and whether any bone grafting is required. If you are a full denture wearer for many years, some form of bone grafting is required before dental implants can be placed, external sinus lift , ramus block graft, hip graft.
Depending on the type and amount of bone grafting, the dental implant process will take between 4 – 12 months.
With modern dental implant techniques, you should not feel any pain during the procedure. For patients who are more anxious about the procedure, the surgery can be done under sedation in the clinic. Sedation will relax you during the procedure and the best part is that you will not remember the procedure afterwards.
You will not be without teeth for any prolonged period as we can reline your existing full denture with a comfortable soft liner and you can leave the clinic with your original set of teeth.
With recent advances in dental implant surgical techniques and bone grafting materials, most full denture patients can have dental implants. However, in some instances where the bone shrinkage is too great , dental implants will be contraindicated.
You have to come in for a thorough clinical and x-ray examination. Our in – office Cone Beam Ct Scan will provide an accurate 3 dimensional assessment of the amount of jaw bone available for dental implants and whether any bone grafting is required.
Modern dental implants have a success rate of 95 %