Can Dental Implants Give Me A Pretty Smile After 30 Years?

I have had dentures for a little under 30 years. I’ve always been embarrassed by my smile as a result. Quite a few months ago, a friend of mine told me she was losing her teeth. I didn’t want to tell her how ugly they would be. She was discouraged enough. However, when I saw her after everything was done, her smile was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t believe it. She told me that her dentist gave her dental implants. Is it possible for me to get those if I’ve been in dentures for 30 years? I would love to not be ashamed of my smile. Plus, my dentures don’t really stay in any more, so I need to do something new.

Mary Ellen

Dear Mary Ellen,

I’ll start with some great news for you. Technically, it is never too late to get dental implants. However, given the amount of time that you’ve been in dentures, you are going to need an additional procedure first. You mentioned that you’re having trouble keeping your dentures in. This is because of the length of time that you have been in dentures.

Once your teeth were removed, your body recognized that and because you don’t have any teeth that need to be retained, it begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body. It does this to be as efficient as possible with your body’s resources. Unfortunately, it will begin to also shrink your jawbone as a result. After about ten or twenty years, you would have started having trouble keeping your dentures in. Eventually, the jawbone shrinks so much that you aren’t able to keep your dentures in at all. In dental circles, this is known as facial collapse. This is what you are dealing with now.

The solution to this is bone grafting. That missing bone will need to be filled in. This is essential in order to for you to be able to retain the dental implants. Once that is done and has time to heal, the next step is to have the dental implants placed. After there is time for the bone to integrate with the implants then your dentist can anchor your new teeth to the implants.

Here’s the part that you may be a little sad to hear. The teeth that are anchored to the implants are dentures. These are called implant supported dentures. Now, obviously, you can have a beautiful smile with dentures, because that is what your friend would have had anchored to her implants. The only thing sad about this is that you could have had a beautiful smile all along. It was only the lack of cosmetic skill on the part of your dentist that made them unattractive.

On the upside, your quality of life will go up significantly with implants. You’ll be amazed at how much better your life will become. You’ll even be able to eat whatever you want.

This blog is brought to you by Nashville Dentist Dr. David Wickness.