Full arch dental implants are basically when we have an empty arch of no teeth or we have a lot of broken down teeth, teeth that are just moving because of periodontal disease or it’s severe cavities or decay, and we think that the best option would be to remove all the teeth and place dental implants to restore that entire function for the patient. Most patients that come in wanting the full dental implants usually either don’t have any teeth or they have had a denture for a certain number of years and it’s just not working out for them because they it falls out or it’s loose and they’re not happy with the way that they chew with it. So usually those types of patients will opt for the full arch dental implants and they can be life-changing for some patients and for all patients actually, but you just have to make sure that you’re a right candidate for it.
We have to make sure that you have enough bone and we have to make sure that you have the realistic expectations of what to expect from full arch dental implants and just make sure that you are confident in what you’re investing your time and your money into. So that’s why a proper consultation with us is the best way to go about it and making sure that we get all the information that we need so we can come up with the best plan for the full arch implants. Full arch dental implants versus traditional dentures are different in a number of ways because the main thing is retention, so the way that the denture fits.
We have patients that have had dentures for years and you know they’re totally fine with it and nothing’s wrong with it, it doesn’t fall out, but then you have the patients that aren’t really adapting well to their denture and they just don’t like the way that it fits or it just doesn’t have enough bone retention where it falls out constantly or they have a bad gag reflex that they can’t get themselves to transition to a traditional denture and those types of patients we usually advocate for the full arch dentures and we let them know what the difference between the two is. With one, you don’t have to take it out at night. With a traditional denture, you do.
With the full arch implants, they’re fixated in your mouth and they don’t come out at all except for your cleaning once a year, but other than that, they pretty much stay in there all the time. I compare it to as if you have your natural teeth again. You know, you’re biting the same way that you used to and you’re restoring all the function and restoring all the habits that you had before.
The two aren’t even a comparison. You know, with one, you’re getting the best and the most optimal solution and you’re getting the gold standard of care and with the traditional dentures, you’re getting, you know, what we can do just to get by if you plan to get the dental implants.
