For as long as dentures have been around, so to have the problems that are associated with them. For some people dentures can be bulky, move around (especially lower dentures), cause soreness, affect taste and ability to eat, and in many cases affect ones social life. In 1965 the first dental implant was placed in Sweden for a denture wearer named Gosta Larrson. As the story goes, he was so impressed by how the dental implants improved his comfort with his dentures, that the second person to have dental implants placed was the cab driver who drove him home from the dental implant placement. Since that time millions of people around the world have had dental implants placed to help secure their dentures.
Dental implants have become a safe predictable way to restore ones quality of life with dentures. As dental implants gain in popularity, more and more patients are asking for the procedure. What many of them are unaware of, is the many different ways that dental implants can be used to secure dentures. To simplify this topic I will break down the ways that dentures can be secured to implants by classifying them as either “implant retained” or “implant supported.” Over the next few blogs I will discuss the different options available for both implant-retained and supported dentures