Dental Implants or Dentures?

In response to requests by many patients, Dr. Stewart has produced a leaflet entitled "Five Questions to ask ‘Your Dentist' before having Dental Implants" in order to help in choosing the right dentist to place dental implants for you. Please call for your free copy on 020 8404 1456
 
At our clinic, we are able to offer all of the options for missing teeth including implant only options, hybrid dental implant and denture options, or purely denture options.

Our philosophy is that treatment should be the minimum cost needed to gain maximum effect (ie: fully solving a patient's problem). 

Dr. Stewart believes that patients should be offered all treatment options for missing teeth, and where many teeth are missing, the main options are implant solutions, or denture solutions. However, after many years of practicing in this field, it appears that the majority of patients may have only had basic conventional dentures, and are perhaps only being offered implants with their associated price tag as the only other option.

Dr. Stewart has found that a top quality denture often solves most of the issues associated with a patient's original basic denture. In fact, in most cases, after having an excellent denture, these patients no longer feel that they require any implant treatment. Dr. Stewart has actually found that the majority of patients would rather avoid the surgery involved in implant placement, as well as the price implication of multiple conventional implants, but they are often not being given any other alternative.

The difference between basic dentures, and the best possible dentures, is often very marked, but because there are very few dentists who take a special interest in denture-related work, this middle option is not often being offered to patients.

We regularly see patients who are adamant they DO NOT want another set of dentures after all the problems they have had. However when they see what we can achieve they change their mind. We have a DVD of past patients for you to look at which we will send to you when we call.

Every case is individual, but the below gives a rule of thumb overview of treatment options.

Three common options that should be discussed where many or all teeth are missing are:

1. An excellent new denture
2. A hybrid of some implants fixing the denture in place
3. Full implant option with a fixed bridge

Let's discuss each of these a bit further:

1. An Excellent New Denture
   Many patients have poorly constructed dentures and are fed up with them. They wish to get rid of dentures and have their teeth fixed. However, when patients see the price of a purely fixed option, the cost can be a shock. We find that approximately 80% of patients who come to us for implant solutions end up having excellent dentures at a fraction of the cost of implants, and are very happy with the result. They choose not to go further down the implant road. Even for patients who are 100% sure that they want to have dental implants, this is still often the first stage, as tooth position is vitally important for appearance, and the correct tooth position needs to be worked out before the implants are placed. If the implants are placed in the wrong position, the cosmetic look will be compromised.
   
   
2. A Hybrid of some implants fixing the denture in place
   Mini dental implants are roughly a third of the cost of conventional implants, and in some cases, offer a perfectly acceptable implant solution. At the very least, these should be discussed. Hybrid solutions, ie: a denture attached to dental implants, offer a mid-priced solution. By using a few implants as anchor points, the dentist can remove any movement in the denture, and dentures can be made much smaller. For example, where all of the upper teeth are missing, the upper denture can be a slim line horseshoe shape not covering the palate.
   
   
3. Full implant solution with a fixed bridge
   This is the top priced option where crowns with associated gum work are attached to the dental implants. For most patients, before going to this expense, we would often suggest trying options one or two first, as in our experience, the majority of patients are very satisfied with a more cost-effective solution.

Finally, we offer a free consultation service, and will be happy to fully discuss options with patients.

For patients travelling some distance to us, we offer special arrangements in terms of scheduling appointments so as to minimize long-distance travel. Please call us for further information.

One final comment, the rest of this website is aimed at excellent dentures & mini-dental implants however please be aware we also offer conventional dental implant treatment as well.