Dental Implants vs. Dentures: Pros and Cons

Are you confused between considering dental implants or dentures? You are in the right place. After losing a tooth, confidently smiling, eating, and speaking can be challenging. Not forgetting that missing teeth could negatively impact your dental health overall.

A Dexter dental office can provide both dentures and dental implants. Let us understand both tooth replacement solutions, benefits, and drawbacks. Furthermore, you will also get to know whether you are a good candidate for a dental implant. 

Dental implants vs. Dentures: Pros and cons

  1. Dental implants

A dental implant is an artificial tooth root inserted into the jaw to support the crown in the near future. It is often made of titanium. Dental implants appear and function like natural teeth, a benefit many patients appreciate.

This means you will not be concerned about your dentures sliding when eating your favorite dishes. It is essential that you care for your dental implants by cleaning them multiple times a day and flossing once a day, just like maintaining your natural teeth.

Pros-

  • No possibility of sliding.
  • prevents the jawbone from deteriorating.
  • Function and appear like authentic teeth.

Cons-

  • It is expensive
  1. Dentures

The goal of dentures is to imitate both the look and function of natural teeth. Depending on tooth loss, your dentists might suggest a complete or partial denture. A partial denture replaces a few teeth instead of a complete denture, which replaces every arch of teeth. 

Your dentist can assist you in learning more about the many denture options, including partial, full, conventional, and immediate dentures.

To provide your gums a chance to recover, dentures must be removed before you go to sleep because they lay on top of your gums. Your dentures need to be placed in a glass of water or dental cleaner when not being worn to prevent drying out, breaking down, and distorting.

Pros-

  • Less expensive
  • Able to completely replace an arch of teeth
  • Functions and looks like natural teeth.

Cons-

  • Extra maintenance
  • They may fall and require to be moved.
  • Not a treatment for jawbone degeneration

Can Dentures Replace Dental Implants?

Dentures do not stop jawbone degradation while being less expensive than dental implants. Your body will absorb minerals found in your jaw to utilize elsewhere as soon as it recognizes a missing tooth. When this occurs, the jawbone worsens where the tooth root previously was weaker.

Teeth next to the opening will begin to shift in that position too. The patient could eventually suffer facial collapse, which would alter the framework of the face and make maintaining dentures difficult.