Dr. Noah's Dentistry Blog

Questions About Dentistry Answered

Should I Save My Last Two Upper Teeth?

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I have almost all my bottom teeth. My upper teeth are a completely different story. I’m losing three more, which will pretty much leave me with just the upper two front teeth. Here’s the thing. I’m currently wearing two partial dentures and hate them. I can’t even eat with them and I’m mostly using just those two front teeth. When I’m eating something that requires back teeth, I will wear the dentures then, but only then. My dentist suggested I might be happier with complete upper dentures. I thought it was always best to keep your natural teeth. What do you recommend?

Evelyn

Dear Evelyn,

dentures

I want to qualify this with two important statements. First, I haven’t examined your teeth, so I can only base my advice on what you’ve written above. Second, my advice would be completely different if you were talking about your bottom teeth. When you are talking about dentures, the upper teeth are held in by suction. However the lower teeth rest on your jawbone.

When your teeth are removed, your body recognizes that and will immediately begin resorbing the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body. The reason it does this is because it knows you do not need to retain your teeth roots any longer. The unfortunate side effect is that your jawbone slowly shrinks. Eventually, you will not have enough of a jawbone to even keep in your dentures. In dental circles, this is known as facial collapse.

The way to prevent this is by placing dental implants to anchor the dentures to. The dental implants will serve as prosthetic teeth roots and signal to your body that you still have teeth and will therefore preserve the jawbone.

While most of the time I am a huge proponent of saving as much natural tooth structure as possible, this is a unique case. Because your upper denture is held in by suction, it does not need that jawbone. Plus, I doubt those upper two teeth will last long if that is the only thing you are eating with most of the time. I think you’ll be much more comfortable with full dentures in this case.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Is It Too Late for Me to Get Dental Implants?

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I’ve been in dentures for about ten years. I wanted to get dental implants originally, but they were so expensive. I’ve saved up, but when I went to see my dentist about switching out the dentures for dental implants, he said it was too late. Apparently, my bone shrank. Did it really take me too long? Is there any way around the bone thing or am I stuck with removable dentures?

Paulie

Dear Paulie,

Dental Implant Diagram

If they only issue is the shrinking jaw, then, no, it is not too late for you to get dental implants. You will just need an additional procedure first. I don’t know why your dentist didn’t tell you about it.

When you removed your teeth, your body recognized that and began resorbing the minerals in your jawbone in order to use your body’s resources as efficiently as possible. This has the side effect of slowly shrinking your jawbone. This is known as facial collapse. That bone is essential to help you retain your dentures. Without it, your dental implants will fail and fall out.

What you need is a bone grafting procedure that can build back up the bone. Once that has healed, then you are safe to get dental implants. Dentures can be anchored to them, giving you a secure smile. These are known as implant supported dentures. You won’t have to worry about losing any more bone structure because the dental implants signal to your bone that you have teeth which need to be secured.

Don’t pressure your dentist to do this. It sounds to me like he either hasn’t kept up with the field or doesn’t know how to do it. You will be better off finding a dentist who is trained in the procedures you need.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Ordering Dental Parts Online

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Is there a way for me to order dental implant parts online that does not require me to be a dentist? What I need is the male retention parts. My dentist charges me for one what I can get for six of them online. I’m retired and thought I’d have enough to get through, but the economic problems really hit me hard. I need to pinch every penny I can or I will outlast my money. Not that I’m hoping for the opposite problem either. Any advice you have will be greatly appreciated.

Michael

Dear Michael,

snap on denture

While it is true that dentists have a great deal of overhead, this would not be a huge earner for him and should not make much difference in his bottom line. I would start by talking to your dentist about your situation. My guess is that he would be willing to work with you. If he is not, you will still have options.

My next step would be to look for a dentist who works with dental implants, who also advertises themselves as an affordable dentist. I have found that most dentists went into their profession in order to help people. Affordable dentists are especially sensitive to the financial straits that people sometimes find themselves in. You could call around to a few dental offices and tell them what you told me. It’s often the staff who orders the parts instead of the dentist anyway.

A final option would be to order from eBay. There are overseas companies who are willing to sell these to non-dentists. I’m making that a final option because you would have to know some information such as the strength of the cap you need as well as how to place them into your denture.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.