What are Overdentures?

An overdenture is a removable denture that fits over any remaining natural teeth left in your mouth, over root tips or over dental implants. The benefit of having overdenture is that it makes it easier to chew food and feels like regular teeth with added comfort and quality of life.They also help to preserve bone and preventing bone resorption, and dental implants really help for the denture retention and support, with implants you do not need to have an adhesive to prevent denture loosening while eating and speaking.

Procedure of Overdentures 

If you have existing dentures that have been made recently and the fit of these dentures are good, these dentures can also be converted from a conventional denture to an over denture. For implant planning, we need a CBCT scan to review the volume of bone available and assess  anatomical structures and for implant planning. Upon completion of the surgical insertion of the implants, patients usually heal within 4-5 months. A reassessment of the existing dentures will take place to determine whether to use the pre-existing dentures or to fabricate a new set.  Small stud type attachments are placed on the implants, these studs have plastic inserts in the dentures which will interun help in denture stability and support.

Implant attachments can be of different types. These include: 

• Simple Type: Individual studd (locator) style attachments.
• Advance Type: CAD/CAM bar (a milled titanium bar that is supported by a minimum of 3 up to 4 or 5 implants). The denture design accommodates this type of attachment and is more complex in nature.