3 Dental Replacements Improved With Ridge Modification
Posted on: 30 July 2015
The teeth and gums are supported by upper and lower jawbones, which peak at the ridge that holds the teeth. Gum disease and trauma can cause the bone in that ridge to erode or otherwise weaken. Strong jawbones are important for general dental health to keep the natural teeth stabile. But jawbone deterioration is an especially large problem when considering certain types of dental replacements.
Your dentist can perform a ridge modification to help strengthen weak areas of bone. The procedure involves grafting bone from elsewhere in the jaw or your hip into the weakened area then allowing the two sections of bone to fuse together.
Here are three dental replacements improved with ridge modification.
Dental Implant
Dental implants are one of the most natural feeling dental replacement options because the implant doesn't move around while chewing. This stability comes from a metal root that is inserted into a drilled hole in the jawbone. During a healing period, the bone fuses around the root to hold it firmly in place. If this fusion fails, your dentist might not be able to place the rest of the implant.
Ridge modification can help build up your jaw in the area where you need the implant. The graft procedure and healing process is done first before the root and its own fusion can happen. This makes the already lengthy implant process even longer, but you will have a much lower risk of implant failure.
Implant-Supported Dentures
For a traditional dental implant, an artificial tooth crown is snapped down over the metal root once its healed. But that's not the only dental application for those metal roots. Implant-supported dentures help add stability to a dental replacement that has a bad reputation for slipping around while chewing or speaking.
Implant roots can be used with either a partial or full denture plate. Partial plates only replace a few teeth that are spaced out a bit around your mouth. The partials will have a base plate similar to full dentures, but the plate will snap onto roots on each end for support.
Full dentures will require several implant roots spaced around the mouth to hold the plates firmly in place.
Traditional Full Dentures
Dental implants aren't the only reason you might want to consider ridge modification. Jawbone strengthening can even benefit traditional full dentures.
Full dentures sit on a plate that's custom-fitted to slide snugly over the jawbone ridge to hold the plate in place. Erosion or weakened areas can cause the plate to fit more loosely in some areas, which increases the risk of the plate slipping around. The slipping makes it harder to eat or drink or speak. And the slipping can cause irritation and painful soft tissue damage over time.
For more information about jaw and oral health, visit Crystal Dental Care.
Share