Ever since I got my dentures it has been a bit challenging to eat. However, it seems to have gotten significantly worse in recent years. I can’t even keep them in anymore. I’ve been living on nothing but soup. Have they just stretched? Do I need to have new ones made?
Carolyn
Dear Carolyn,
What you are currently dealing with is not that your dentures have stretched. Instead, your jaw shrunk. You may have noticed a gradual change in your jawbone over the years since getting your dentures. This is because once your teeth were removed, your body began resorbing the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body.
It does this to be efficient with your body’s resources that you no longer need to retain teeth. However, it has the unfortunate side-effect of shrinking your jawbone. After a number of years, which you have hit, there is no longer enough jawbone left to retain your lower dentures, which rest on the ridge of that jawbone. This is known as facial collapse.
The Solution to Facial Collapse
The first step to ensuring you can eat solid food again is to build back up that missing bone structure. This is done with a bone grafting procedure. Once you have healed from that, you have one of two choices.
Option One
Replace your dentures with a new pair that fits the repaired jawline. This is your cheapest option, but it will begin the cycle of facial collapse again. Because you mentioned the problem of eating from the beginning of having your dentures, you should be aware that even the best fitting dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%.
Option Two
If you want total security for your jawbone and the ability to eat whatever you want, then you could get implant overdentures. This places between four to six dental implants in your jaw and then anchors your dentures to them. You won’t have to worry about facial collapse because the implants serve as prosthetic tooth roots which signals to your body you still need to keep your jawbone.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.