Implant-supported dentures

What it is

A regular denture rests on your gums and is held by suction, a close fit, or adhesive. An implant-supported denture is held by implants instead. An implant is a small post, usually titanium, that sits in the jawbone where a tooth root used to be. Over a few months, the bone grows tight against it.

The most common kind is a snap-on denture (sometimes called an overdenture). It clips onto two or more implants with small attachments, and you take it out to clean it. Teeth fixed onto implants, which only your dentist can remove, are explained under full-arch implant restorations.

Who it helps

Implant-supported dentures often help people whose regular denture slips, rubs, or makes eating hard, especially a lower denture. They also suit people who are about to lose their remaining teeth and want something steadier from the start.

You need enough healthy jawbone to hold the implants, or a bone graft to build it up. Smoking, diabetes that isn’t well controlled, and some medicines can slow healing and make implants more likely to fail. Your dentist will go over your health with you.

What happens

From start to finish, the process usually takes a few months, mostly waiting for the implants to heal.

1. Exam and planning. Your dentist checks your gums and jaw and takes X-rays, and often a 3D scan, to see how much bone you have and where the implants should go.
2. Placing the implants. During a short surgery, the implants go into your jawbone through small openings in the gum. The area is numbed first, so most people feel pressure and vibration rather than pain. Any teeth that need removing may come out at the same visit.
3. Healing. The implants heal for a few months while the bone grows around them. You can usually wear your denture during this time, with a soft lining added to protect the implants.
4. Attaching the denture. Once the implants are ready, small attachments go onto them, and matching parts are set into your denture. This can often be done in your current denture or in a new one.
5. Learning to use it. Your dentist shows you how to snap the denture in and out and how to clean around the implants. Lining it up takes a little practice at first.

Recovery and aftercare

After surgery, expect swelling, soreness, and perhaps light bruising for a few days. Eat soft foods, follow your aftercare instructions, and avoid smoking, which slows healing.

Once the denture is attached, take it out each night and clean it as you would a regular denture. Brush around each implant with a soft brush, too. The small attachments wear over time and need replacing now and then, usually at a short visit.

Implants can get gum infections, just as natural teeth can, so checkups and cleanings still matter.

Cost and insurance

Cost depends on how many implants you need, whether you need extractions or a bone graft first, and whether your current denture can be adapted. Fixed options that use more implants cost more.

Coverage for implants varies. Some dental plans pay part of the cost of the implants or the denture, and some pay for neither. A pre-treatment estimate from your plan can make this clearer, and insurance and financing explains ways to spread out the cost.

Alternatives

• A regular denture. A denture without implants costs less and needs no surgery. It may move more, especially on the lower jaw, and it doesn’t slow the bone loss that follows losing teeth the way implants can.
• A reline. If your current denture has loosened over time, a reline can improve the fit for less.
• A fixed full-arch restoration. Teeth can also be fixed onto four or more implants and removed only by your dentist. This feels closer to natural teeth, but it needs more implants and costs more.