Implant-Supported Dentures and Bridges: A More Secure Alternative to Traditional Options

The dental industry has come a long way, so you might not know about the latest technologies and options for dentures and bridges. Today’s techniques allow for a natural look, a secure fit, and improved mouth and jaw health.

At Bayside Dental Arts in Queens, New York, Dr. Andrey Ilyabayev and our team offer dental implants that can replace a single tooth, bridge a gap of several lost teeth, or even hold up an entire arch of dentures. 

Best of all, we can help keep the bone in your jaw from dissolving and prevent future tooth loss.

Traditional bridgework and dentures

Traditional bridgework uses small attachments made of metal to anchor your dental restorations to abutment teeth (teeth on either side of a gap or gaps in your smile.) These attachments can be cemented in place or act like clasps that you can remove and even have us replace as needed.

Full dentures usually depend on a type of nontoxic glue to hold them in place in your mouth. This adhesive is messy, often doesn’t stay in place, and can allow your dentures to shift and rub on the inside of your mouth.

But the worst thing about traditional dentures and bridges is that they sit over the empty spaces left by your lost teeth. Gradually, the underlying jawbone that used to anchor your tooth roots begins to disintegrate.

Tooth loss, bone loss, tooth loss

When you lose a tooth, the root isn’t there anymore to stimulate the jawbone and keep it alive. Over time, the bone dissolves away. This causes the teeth on either side of the lost tooth to start sliding toward the empty space. 

Eventually those teeth may fall out, more bone loss occurs, and you lose more teeth.

Implants are the answer

Unlike traditional dentures and bridgework, implant-supported restorations mimic your natural teeth and keep your jawbone alive and healthy. We place a root, which is a titanium post with screw threads, into the empty gap where a tooth used to be.

The bone ossointegrates with the post (grows around it), and this helps keep the bone alive. A collar goes on the post just under the gum line, and your new tooth or teeth go on over the collar.

You can have one dental implant supporting a single tooth or several. You can have a whole denture supported with All-on-4®, which lets us permanently install a full arch of new teeth on just four implants.

If your jawbone is too thin

What happens if it’s been years since you started losing teeth, and your jawbone has been dissolving this whole time? In most cases, a bone graft can strengthen areas where an implant needs to be placed, and you can still have a healthy amazing smile. 

For more information about implant-supported dentures and bridges, call us at 315-908-0804 or book an appointment online. We’re located in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens, New York City.