707-566-7300 
Many of our patients do not have any trouble where an upper denture, but we do have some who find lower dentures difficult to wear and eat with. Fortunately, at Sonoma County Oral Surgery & Dental Implant Center we can provide our patients with implant-supported dentures in Santa Rosa, California, and Dr. Jiries Mogannam, Dr. Vicente Chavez and Dr. Christopher Chow have multiple options if you are missing all of your lower teeth.
Ball Attachment Denture
With this option, two implants will be placed in your lower jaw and then your denture will snap onto these implants. It will provide you with more stability in your denture while you are chewing, but patients who choose this option may find some movement in their lower denture and they may develop sore spots if any food particles become caught beneath it. Seeds in particular tend to create sore spots. This is a removable option for your replacement teeth and will require you to made appointments for your dentures to be adjusted in order to keep them properly maintained.
Bar Attachment Denture
When you choose a bar attachment denture, you will receive between four to six implants in your lower jaw. The number of implants is determined by the size and shape of your jaw. Once you have completed the healing process, your implants will be connected with a custom-made support bar. Your denture will attach to this bar using special retention clips that will be built into them. This type of denture is named an “overdenture.” The major advantage of this option over a ball attachment denture is that it is much more stable, allowing little movement in your denture. This option is also easily removed for cleaning and maintenance.
Screw Retained Denture
This option for implant-supported dentures involves attaching a permanent denture using five or more implants placed in your jaw. The denture itself will be secured to support bar or posts using screws or clasps. It will not touch your gum tissue. This placement is one of the benefits of this type of denture, but it allows you to clean beneath the denture without needing to remove it. This denture will replace all of your missing lower teeth and it will only be removed when you attend your maintenance visits. Cleaning beneath this type of denture will add more time to your cleaning routine and necessitates some dexterity, but it is still a preferred option for many of our patients who want permanent dentures.
Individual Implants
Another option that our oral surgeons can offer our patients is to have all of your missing teeth individually replaced with implants. This option will resemble your natural teeth more closely than any other option will. Usually this treatment will involve placing eight or more implants. Each implant will have an abutment or support post and a crown for each tooth that is going to be replaced. This option usually ends up being the most expensive as it involves the most implants that need to be placed and the most individual parts that need to be fabricated. You may also find that your choices for replacement are limited by the size and shape of your jawbone.
Treatment Options for Missing Upper Teeth
Our oral surgeons can also offer a variety of treatment options to our patients for implant-supported dentures for their upper jaw. Unfortunately, the bone in your upper jaw tends to not be as hard as the bone in your lower jaw, which means that these treatments often require more implants to be placed in order to support your restorations.
A few of our upper jaw treatment options include:
Implant-Retained Upper Denture
One of the benefits of these type of procedures is that you may be able to eliminate the necessity for the roof of your mouth to be covered by a complete denture. This means that you will be better able to taste your food and have an improved sense of temperature. This denture will have a more natural feel in your mouth, but it will still be removable, which means you will have an easier time cleaning the support bar.
Individual Upper Implants
When you are looking for a non-removable, also known as a fixed, implant-supported denture, then often you will need to likely need to have between eight to ten implants placed in your jawbone. Once you have completed your healing process, we will place your abutments and your new replacement crowns.
Please give us a call at 707-566-7300 today if you are interested in learning more about our options for implant-supported dentures!
