I’m a grandmother at 45, but don’t want to look like one. Unfortunately, I do. I think it is because I have something called facial collapse. I’ve been doing some research online and it looks like dental implants will fix that. However, I also see there is something called snap on dentures which are considered affordable dental implants. Will those help me look younger too? I don’t want to waste money.
Karen
Dear Karen,
You have certainly done your homework. As you can tell from the image above, as well as your jaw, years of dentures not only make you look older than you are but can also keep you from eating.
When facial collapse shrinks your jaw, it also causes your dentures to have nothing to sit on, making you a denture cripple. They have probably already started slipping. Eventually, you won’t be able to keep them in at all.
Can Affordable Dental Implants Help?
Before any dental implants are able to be placed you will have to build back up your bone. This is because dental implants are surgically implanted into your jaw in order to take the place of the roots of your teeth. Having those prosthetic roots there will keep your jaw from shrinking.
Doing this is a simple outpatient procedure known as bone grafting. That alone will restore not just your jaw, but your youthful appearance as well. From there, it is just a matter of what type of implants to get.
You mentioned snap-on dentures. While the least expensive of the affordable implant options, these use two dental implants toward the front of your jaw and snaps your dentures to them. It will preserve the bone where the implants are, but no further.
However, if at all possible, because of your young age, I want to recommend you get implant overdentures. This uses between four to eight implants to anchor your dentures. It will completely protect your jawbone from shrinkage. Plus, they’ll be completely secure. It will be like having healthy natural teeth again.
This blog is brought to you by Atlanta Periodontist Dr. David Pumphrey.
