Why Have My Dentures Become Loose?

Why your denture fit may degrade over time.

It has long been a standard of cartoonists around the world to show a pair of dentures shooting out of a person’s mouth to express surprise. Whilst this rarely happens in such an extreme way, it would be no exaggeration to say that a lot of denture wearers complain about discomfort from dentures that move around in their mouth.

When this happens, it can be embarrassing if it does so at an inappropriate time. It can also cause soreness to the gums, caused by the friction between them and the dentures. Inevitably, poor quality dentures get the blame, or sometimes, even the dentist! In the great majority of cases though, neither of these factors are responsible.

Bone loss

The main reason for dentures becoming loose, and therefore uncomfortable, is bone loss in the jaw. This causes small, but significant, changes to the shape of the face and it is this that is the main reason that dentures often fit poorly. The reality is that, when a tooth is lost, the body identifies that the bone in that area no longer has a role to play, i.e. holding a tooth in place, and over time, the jawbone slowly thins. Whilst this may not be too much of an issue where a single tooth has been lost, when a number of teeth have been lost, or even more so, a full arch, the effects can be quite dramatic.

Solutions

There are two solutions to help minimise bone loss, excluding of course, keeping your own teeth healthy. Both of these solutions use the popular dental implant procedure. Where individual teeth have been lost, a single dental implant can be used to replace it. This procedure involves the placing of a titanium dental implant into the jawbone. This ‘fools’ the bone into believing that there is a natural tooth root that needs to be held in place. A process called osseointegration then occurs which bonds the bone with the implant and holds it firmly in place. A crown is then added to complete the replacement tooth.

Where a full arch of teeth have been lost, it would not be practical to replace each tooth individually with an implant, and, instead, a number of implants, usually between four and six, can be placed strategically into the jawbone, and a fixed bridge attached to these. This procedure can normally be done in just one day and is sometimes referred to as a ‘teeth in a day’ procedure.

The latter treatment can also be used to stabilise dentures for any of our Derby patients who wish to continue using theirs, rather than having a more permanent fixed bridge. As we can see then, dental implants not only offer a strong and long lasting solution for replacing missing teeth, but also help to minimise bone loss, maintain facial shape and avoid the appearance of sunken cheeks which can make you appear older than you really are.

If you are unhappy with your uncomfortable dentures and would like to discuss implants as an alternative, please call the Darren Bywater Dental Implant Centre in Derby on 01332 550933.

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