Many men and women know that a permanent dental implant is an ideal tooth restoration. Some don’t realize, however, that two or more can support a partial or full denture. This can be a less expensive option for patients at Kenneth Hovden DDS than having multiple implants while still providing many improvements as compared to conventional dentures.
Today’s message answers the most common questions about implant dentures.
The first thing to know is that a fixed implant denture is called an “implant-supported” denture while a removable one is called an “implant-retained” denture.
What Are Implant Dentures?
Like conventional dentures, implant-supported dentures replace missing teeth. The difference is that they are attached to titanium posts which are surgically anchored into the jawbone.
Each post is called an implant. The implant fuses with the surrounding bone structure to create an incredibly strong restoration. These posts are similar to the implants that hold a crown, except instead of a crown, they have a clip that attaches to the denture, partial denture, or metal bar that holds the denture connectors. Implants can be used for both upper and lower dentures.
Bar-Retained and Ball-Retained Systems
There are two types of implant stabilization methods: bar-retained and ball-retained. For both, the denture is constructed with gum-colored acrylic for the base to which porcelain (or acrylic) false teeth are attached. The denture requires, at a minimum, two implants for stabilization.
With the ball-retained system, each post holds an attachment (male or female) that fits into a corresponding attachment on the denture. These are sometimes called “stud-attachment.”
With bar-retained dentures, a metal bar is anchored to two to five implants. The bar holds the attachments that connect to the denture.
If you are currently wearing traditional dentures, talk to us about superior restoration options.
Contact Kenneth Hovden DDS:
650-755-6000
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
901 Campus Dr Ste 202
Daly City, California
94015
