Question:

Back in 1999 I was fitted with a Complete Upper Denture. For the first 10 years or so no one could tell that I had no upper teeth my Denture fit perfectly and the teeth looked very natural. Then my Denture started getting loose, so I had it relined multiple times but recently I’ve started to notice that even my relined denture is affecting the way I smile and talk and my teeth don’t show as much when I smile – it feels like my Denture is letting the skin around my mouth sag more than it should for someone my age. I won’t have a face lift so what can I do to fix this problem will dental implants help? What are my options?

Answer:

There is elegant but simple solution to your problem and it is called a “FaceLIFT Dentures”. Unlike a standard Denture, a FaceLIFT Denture provides for superior lip and facial support which can often provide patients with a startling change in their facial appearance.

As we age, our body produces less and less collagen and so with less elasticity and support things naturally begin to slowly wrinkle, sag and droop. Since a significant amount of lip and facial support is normally provided by the teeth and gums, the problem of a drooping smile and sagging facial skin is further compounded for Denture wearers. Without teeth the surrounding edentulous ridges continue to shrink and change shape through a process called “resorption”. A stable fitting Denture relies heavily upon a good peripheral seal and suction which is usually achieved by setting the teeth over the edentulous ridge but as the ridge resorbs, the tooth position has to change in order to maintain suction which leads to less support for the lips, mouth and surrounding facial muscles. This leads to that typical sunken in look of a standard Denture.

With the fabrication of a FaceLIFT Denture issues of a sagging smile, sunken-in mid face and deep creases at the corner of the mouth can be readily addressed because they utilize the principals of Neuromuscular Dentistry and TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation). Using TENS a set of ultra low frequency electrodes can be placed over certain muscles and nerves in the head and neck which allow the patients muscles of jaws opening and closing to ‘relax’ and find a position where they are at physiological rest. Muscles at physiological rest are not contracted or overstretched, which means that the overlying dermal and epidermal layers of “skin” appear to be less stretched, and wrinkled – giving the skin a more even tone and better volume. With FaceLIFT Dentures, TENS is utilized for a) Muscle and Nerve Mediated Border Molding and b) to help find the proper vertical opening for the patient and the ideal relationship of their upper jaw (maxilla) to their lower jaw (mandible).

FaceLIFT dentures can help give you a more youthful facial appearance and a fuller brighter smile

With the help of a TENS device a Neuromuscular trained Dentist can use this Muscle Border Molding technique to help relax the muscles of jaw opening and closing so that the patient achieves a more accurate fitting Denture – one with more stability and improved adhesion/ suction. Because of this increased suction this means the Denture teeth DO NOT have to set over the resorbed ridge which gives the typical Denture that sunken in look. Instead the teeth can be set in a much more ideal position closer to their old vertical opening and rest position for their jaws. This allows for superior lip and facial support often providing the patient with a startling change is their facial appearance. The combination of a more ideal, natural vertical opening plus an improved bite relationship allows for the creation of the FaceLIFT Denture effect.

Typically, a new set of FaceLIFT Dentures can be made in just three simple appointments starting with the TENS Border molding technique using the patients old denture. Then a wax try-in with the new teeth mounted into a more esthetic position for the patient’s smile and facial profile. The last appointment is the delivery appointment which usually requires only minimal adjustments because the Denture has been fabricated using the principals of Neuromuscular Dentistry.

These esthetic Dentures can even be fabricated with the use of a minimum of two (2) Dental implants which can either be used to help to eliminate the palate and significantly increase both speech and taste or increase the stability and retention of a lower denture.

If you or a loved one are considering a new Denture(s), please feel free to give our office a call and book an appointment – our staff would be more than happy to discuss the features and benefits of FaceLIFT Dentures with you.

Question:

Over the past 10-15 years I have lost more than half of my upper teeth and most of my lower molars. I am now having trouble chewing and my jaw joints are starting to ‘clunk’ when I open and close. I know I need to get this problem fixed but I’ve had partial dentures before and could never tolerate the feeling of something covering the roof of my mouth. I was recently told that the only way to avoid covering my palate was with an implant supported palate-less denture using four or more dental implants. Problem is that I really can’t afford that kind of treatment. I have great dental insurance so are there any other options besides dental implants?

Answer:

First of all your situation is not all that uncommon, and yes, dental implants can be very expensive and time consuming. First, there is the surgical fee for multiple dental implants and then there is the additional cost of the implant denture or crowns. Dental implants placed in the upper jaw can also take 6 or more months to fuse to bone before they can be restored. I strongly recommend a complete Neuromuscular workup to address your TMJ issues. If you cannot afford dental implants and the thought of a regular clasped partial denture is not appealing, then a root retained overdenture may be worth considering.

If you have adequate root length and bone support on three or more of your upper teeth and these teeth are spread out around the arch and your ‘bite’ is within normal limits then you may be a candidate for a root retained overdenture. Rather than utilizing a series of dental implants to support a denture we may be able to design an overdenture which attaches and detached to a series of individual post and root caps which are permanently anchored into the roots of your remaining (retained) natural teeth. This type of a prosthesis is removable by the patient and requires that root canal treatment be performed on all the chosen anchor teeth so that a cast post and root cap can then be bonded inside the tooth after it has been shaved down closer to the gumline. On the top of these root caps the male half of a two piece friction fitted attachment is typically attached and is made to line up with a matching female housing which is permanently buried in the acrylic on the underside of the denture. When three or more of these attachments are utilized, the overdenture can be snapped down on top of these root caps to create added stability and retention such that a large portion of the acrylic overdenture can now be removed to create extra room for the tongue. This has a profound impact on how the patient talks, breathes, laughs, eats and swallows. The added benefit to this type of prosthesis is that it allows the patient to retain several tooth roots and the surrounding jaw bone which helps to maintain the integrity of the patient’s arch shape and facial profile.

When this style of overdenture is fully seated to place nobody can see these attachments because they are all housed on the underside of the prosthesis. From a maintenance perspective, all the patient has to get into the habit of doing is snapping the overdenture in and out of their mouth daily to clean and care for the cast post and root cap screws which can be easily replaced every couple of years.

Esthetically a finished root retained overdenture looks fantastic and can be fabricated and delivered for considerably less than the cost of a 4x dental implant supported overdenture and usually with better insurance coverage. If you are interested in determining if this is a potential option for you or one of your family members, we invite you to give our office a call.