What If All I Can Afford Are Dentures?

I had four pregnancies right in a row where I vomited every single day. I’ve been told I have hardly any enamel left on my teeth. They are literally crumbling on my top arch. My insurance only covers $1000 dollars of work each year and believe me when I tell you that I need significantly more than that. I am thinking of just getting dentures for my upper arch so I am not ashamed to smile. My lower arch isn’t so bad, so I can wait on that one. My dentist tells me that I will regret dentures, but I cannot afford the dental implants he is telling me to get instead. What if dentures are absolutely all I can afford?

Samantha

Dear Samantha,

image of dentures

You are in a really tough spot and have been through a lot with those pregnancies. It is a testament to the endurance of women. Dental work can certainly be expensive, can’t it? The one piece of good news about this is that you are talking about your upper arch and not your lower arch. With the upper arch, dentures are held in by suction. The lower arch, however, rests on the ridge of your jawbone. With those, dental implants will become more important.

The Importance of Implants on the Lower Arch

Before and After Facial Collapse

When your teeth are removed, your body immediately begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body. This is in an effort to use your body’s resources in the best way possible. While admirable in its conservation efforts, the unfortunate result is the shrinking of your lower jaw. This means in about ten years you will no longer have enough jawbone left to keep your dentures in your mouth. This is known as facial collapse.

The solution to this is to get dental implants before your jawbone is lost. The implants serve as prosthetic tooth roots, which tells your body that you need that jawbone to keep the roots in place. What you would actually get is implant overdentures. This uses four dental implants and then anchors your dentures to them. They will be completely secure and you’ll be able to eat anything you want (unlike dentures).

My recommendation is that you get dentures on the upper arch and start saving for implant overdentures on your lower arch, if the time ever comes where that will become necessary. I think you also need a dentist who is willing to work with you financially by allowing you to pay things out over time so you get the care you need.

If your dentist is willing to do that great!. If not, I think you need to find a dentist who will work with you. You can do an internet search for an affordable dentist to help with that. They are more willing to work with patients. Be careful here, though. There is a big difference between affordable and cheap. You don’t want someone who cuts corners to keep their prices up and that tends to be what happens with the “cheapest” dentists.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.