Our Procedures
Dental Implants & Dentures in Edmonton
Did you know that your teeth are alive and amazing? Your dentist does! As science learns more about our biology, the technologies that we discover to assist us in living a long and healthy life improve along with our improved understanding.
What Do Implants Cost?
The cost of dental implants truly varies for every patient due to their current dental condition and unique requirements, which determines what is involved in completing a quality dental implant. We encourage you to book a Complimentary Consultation so you can learn about your specific procedure and the accurate costs associated to your Implant Treatment.
Not long ago, dentures were considered an eventuality for the majority of the elderly population or for those whose teeth were irreparably damaged in a motor vehicle or other traumatic event. Dentures improved over time, offering a more natural appearance and better adhesives. Despite their necessity, however, dentures can and do still pose challenges to those who wear them.
Dentures & Side-Effects
Transitioning to dentures can be a bumpy road due to issues of proper fit. Since dentures inevitably register to the brain as a foreign object, they can trigger a chronic gag response and full upper palate models of denture significantly detracts from the ability to taste food. It might seem like dentures should operate just like natural teeth if they are properly adhered to their place, but in fact dentures operate quite differently and require an adjustment period to learn to eat effectively with them. In order for the bite to operate correctly and the suction to the gum to be maintained, denture wearers must place similar sized portions on each side of their mouths before chewing slowly. Perhaps the most common complaint by denture wearers, though, is the frequent need to adjust fit to prevent friction on the soft tissues – and it’s not one that’s easily solved.
Your Amazing Teeth
To help understand why dentures are challenging in terms of fit, let’s go back to our first point (that your teeth are alive and amazing!). It’s easy to think of teeth as being stationary immovable structures, but the truth is that it is the tooth’s ability to respond to its environment which allows us to be able to straighten their alignment with braces!
Our teeth have ligaments that help them stay firmly anchored in their bone sockets. The ligaments’ flexibility allows it to respond to bite force pressure without cracking the tooth under the force. As bite force pressure is exerted down the shaft of the tooth into the bone, the bone responds to the pressure by fortifying the area with additional minerals to keep it in place. Without the demand for stability through chewing, minerals that would be used to fortify the jawbone to support the tooth are diverted to be used in other areas of the body, and the bone begins to resorb (or deteriorate).
When the natural teeth are removed from the jawbone, the bite force exerted by the dentures on the jawbone is a fraction of that required for remineralization (approximately 10 percent). With insufficient bite force, the jaw begins to change as minerals are diverted away and what follows is a progression of its deterioration. This can significantly change the appearance of the lower third of the face and the profile. Luckily, science and technology have come together to offer a long-term alternative to dentures.
REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT AT VIVA DENTAL WELLNESS
Request an appointment online and we will do our best to accommodate you. Please note we will respond to online requests as soon as possible during our working hours. If your matter is urgent, we encourage you to give us a call at 780-760-8482. All services provided by a general dentist.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are comprised of a false tooth and a false root system that anchors into the jawbone. The tooth itself, called a pontic, is attached to the artificial titanium root via an abutment once the false root has been installed. The artificial root system is necessarily made out of titanium in order to facilitate an interaction between the bone and the metal known as osseointegration. Threads in titanium uniquely fuse to the jawbone as it heals and offers a strong foundation for the pontic to be placed. Dental implants are a long-term solution that can last a very long time .
Dental implants can be placed independently along the jaw line or can be placed in several configurations, since they can support adjacent false teeth such as is the case with a bridge supported implant. Full mouth reconstructions using implants are typically facilitated using an all-on-four configuration in which all the false teeth are supported by four implants along the lower arch and four along the top.
An Investment in Your Bone Health
Dental implants are an investment in the health and wellbeing of your jaw and one that can have tremendous benefit.
Dental implants are not susceptible to decay the way a natural tooth is but beware that plaque bacteria still live in the mouth and gum disease and irritation can still occur. In order to take good care of your mouth and your implants, brush and clean the implants and the soft tissues regularly. If you have questions about implants or other services offered by our general dentist, contact our clinic today!
