If your dentures aren’t secure, dental implants can help secure them so you can better enjoy your food. Being better able to chew can significantly improve your quality of life and your satisfaction with dentures.
And it’s true that dental implants can be used even when you don’t have enough bone to support conventional dentures. But what if you don’t have enough bone to support normal dental implants? That’s when we rely on mini implants, and a new study shows that they’re actually very effective for helping people with dentures chew their food.
Measuring Chewing with Model Foods
This study looked at eleven people–average age 72–who had lost all their teeth and had full dentures. The people had lower dentures that were unstable, significantly interfering with their ability to chew. All were given four mini implants to help secure their lower dentures. Mini implants are smaller than traditional dental implants, so they can be used in situations where there’s not enough bone for regular dental implants. But are they strong enough to secure dentures for chewing?<
There is a science of measuring chewing effectiveness with foods, and the technique for measuring is often used to determine how well people function with dentures. Basically, people chew for a certain amount of time, and then have the median particle size measured. For this study, researchers used not only standard hard and soft foods, but raw carrots as well.
Before they received the mini implants, only four of the people with dentures (36%) were able to chew raw carrots. After receiving mini implants, eight of the eleven (72%) were able to chew carrots successfully. All those with dental implants saw significant improvement in their ability to chew both hard and soft foods, as well.
Patients were also given quality of life surveys before and after they received their mini implants. Their quality of life improved as well as their ability to chew.
Don’t Be Content with Dysfunctional Dentures
You don’t have to just accept it if your dentures aren’t performing as they used to, or if they’ve never functioned at all! Dentures can actually be made to allow you to speak clearly, chew effectively, and smile attractively.
With implant dentures and FOY® Dentures, we can dramatically improve the appearance, function, and comfort of your dentures. If you would like to learn just how good modern dentures can be, please call (803) 781-9090 for an appointment with a Columbia, SC denture dentist at Smile Columbia Dentistry today.
