Chicago patients who have worn dentures for a number of years tend to notice that the devices don’t fit as well as they used to. As the years go by, dentures are increasingly likely to slip out of place and they get more uncomfortable to wear as well.

This phenomenon occurs because the jawbone changes shape over time in edentulous patients. With no root structures present to hold the jawbone in place, it continues to wear away and recede, persistently compromising the fit of your dentures.

If you’ve noticed that your dentures are getting loose, you can have the appliances re-lined to improve the fit or even opt for an entirely new set of dentures. These are only temporary fixes, though. Your jawbone will continue to atrophy and eventually you’ll find yourself with ill-fitting dentures on your hands again.

A trip to ORA® Oral Surgery & Implant Studio will give you a better long-term solution: dental implants.

Our experienced oral surgeons at ORA® can place dental implants to anchor an arch of artificial teeth. Implant-supported dentures, such as the All-on-4 system, are stable unlike conventional dentures. They stay in place and it’s easier to chew with them, too.

Dental implants are the perfect complement to dentures, and they come with a number of additional benefits, as well. The screw-like structures are made of titanium, which allows your jawbone to fuse with them and become a permanent fixture in the mouth.

By mimicking the structure of a biological tooth’s root and supporting the jaw bone, dental implants help to prevent jaw atrophy. However, enough bone material must be present at the time of placement to give the implant sufficient opportunity to integrate with that bone.

Although long-term denture wearers may have already experienced extensive bone loss, particularly in areas where the molars used to be, they can still be eligible for implant-supported dentures with either bone grafting or by utilizing the bone in the anterior portion of the jaw.

The All-on-4 technique is particularly valuable for such patients. Using this approach, your Chicago oral surgeon will take advantage of the patterns of jawbone erosion, placing the four implants toward the front of the jaw, where the bone wears away most slowly.

Contact ORA® Oral Surgery & Implant Studio at 312-328-9000 to ask about dental implants if you’ve noticed your dentures getting looser as the months pass.