Tooth loss can be a very difficult experience to endure, usually due to a systemic condition like gum disease. But you do not have to tolerate receding jawbones or restoratives that cause discomfort. Our full mouth rehabilitation Marylebone, with our dentist David Madruga, uses implants to secure a set of premium dentures in place, seamlessly returning form and function back to your mouth.

Limitations of dentures

Dentures are extremely timely and certainly have their uses, but the friction sores and eventual loss of underlying bone is one of the biggest drawbacks that can occur with them. In order to hold themselves firmly in place, they require a tight fit to the gum. This can initially be very good but the load generated by eating and chewing is spread out over the surface of the gum and is not delivered to the jawbone via roots as it would have been before tooth loss. With such little load placed on the bone itself, reabsorption occurs and as the bone recedes and the gum narrows, so the dentures become loose and rub easily, causing chronic ulcers and sores. This can be mitigated with adhesives and by continuing to re-adjust the denture to the changing jawbone, but it is an on-going bugbear of denture users.

Limitations of single implants

A single implant used as an artificial root for a crown-like prosthesis is an excellent way of replacing a single missing tooth from an otherwise healthy smile. But it has its limitations, the first being that the position of the location of the implant is dictated by the location of the missing tooth. It can be slightly mitigated with focusable and extendable connectors, allowing our dentist to find the areas of higher bone density, but it is still highly restrictive.

The implant fitting is carried out over two procedures with a 4 to12 month period in between to allow osseointegration; this is where the titanium portion of the implant becomes fully fixed into the jawbone with new bone tissue growing around it.

The techniques do not scale well and attempting to replace an entire set of teeth each on their own  implant would be prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of our full mouth rehabilitation Marylebone patients.

Implant immobilised dentures

In many ways, we have found that an implant-supported immobilised denture combines some of the best features of both treatments, while mitigating several of the drawbacks. It combines the stability and reliability of a full implant, but with a significantly reduced cost and proven track record of dentures. Where the implants are placed along the dental arch is flexible, allowing the best location to be selected after the areas of high bone density are assessed by X-ray. This increases the chances of the implant being accepted into the jawbone.

The implants will support the denture once they are fully integrated, but during this process when your bone is being laid down, they are vulnerable to being disturbed because multiple implants are attached to the same denture. However the risks of them twisting are slim to none, allowing same-day procedures, making it one of the best options for full mouth rehabilitation Marylebone at our practice.