Implant dentures have many advantages over traditional dentures. They can be more secure and can help you bite and chew better. One of the great benefits of implant dentures is that they can be made so they don’t cover the palate (the roof of your mouth).
Unfortunately, though, many denture dentists keep making implant dentures that cover the palate. Here’s why implant dentures shouldn’t cover your palate (and why many still do).
Benefits of Freeing the Palate
Traditional dentures cover the palate, and this causes many problems for denture wearers. Perhaps one of the biggest problems of covering the palate is that it reduces your sense of taste/dont-consign-flavors-to-memory/’}}}}. Taste is a vital sense for driving us to eat a variety of nutritious foods. People with diminished sense of taste gravitate to convenience foods just because they’re easy (though neither healthy nor delicious) or tend to eat less, both of which can contribute to malnutrition.
Covering the palate also makes your dentures feel bulky and unnatural. It makes it feel like you have something foreign in your mouth.
Sometimes the palate is also very sensitive. Having a denture touch your palate can make you gag or can lead to excessive saliva production.
Having the palate open leads to a better experience for denture wearers, and it’s a major benefit of implant dentures.
Why Implant Dentures Don’t Need to Cover the Palate
Traditional dentures need to cover the palate because it helps to secure them. Traditional dentures are held in place by suction, and the strength of suction depends on the surface area being covered (as well as the quality of seal). Without covering the palate, upper dentures would be even less secure than lower dentures.
But since implant dentures are secured by dental implants, not suction, they don’t need to cover the palate.
Why Do Some Implant Dentures Still Cover the Palate?
So if implant dentures don’t need to cover the palate, why do some implant dentures still do it?It comes down to a few simple issues:
- Not enough implants
- Not enough skill or training
- Cheap materials
Some implant dentures are only partly secured by dental implants. Dentists try to get away by using only a few implants, then making up the difference by fitting you with what is still, essentially, a traditional denture.
On the other hand, some dentists don’t have the skill or training to make implant dentures that fit properly without relying on the suction of the upper palate. They may not even know that such a thing is possible.
Finally, some dentists are trying to sell implant dentures on the cheap. They count on patients not knowing the difference that quality dentures can make, and accepting a small improvement over traditional dentures. Cheap materials may not be able to stand up to the forces of biting and chewing without the palate-covering part of a denture, so dentists make them with this part.
Learn the Benefits of Quality Implant Dentures
Implant dentures can be much better than traditional dentures, if they’re designed and made properly. Don’t pay for implant dentures unless they’re really going to benefit you.
If you are looking for quality implant dentures in Columbia, SC, please call (803) 781-9090 today for an appointment with denture dentist Dr. Adam Hahn at Smile Columbia Dentistry.
