Needing to have all of your teeth replaced can be a stressful thought but fortunately, modern dentistry offers up some wonderful, natural looking restorations to give you back a beautiful, confident and healthy smile. A bar retained overdenture secured with dental implants is one such restoration. And overdenture replaces your missing teeth while providing optimal overall function for eating and speaking.
What is a bar retained overdenture?
A bar retained overdenture is a dental prosthesis that is secured in place using dental implants and clips. The overdenture clips onto the dental implants for a secure yet removable prosthesis. A traditional denture is secured in place using retention, suction, and occasionally a denture adhesive but they have a disadvantage of eventually needing to be replaced due to an improper fit. Traditional dentures can slide around in the patient's mouth and cause sores on their gum tissue, making them very uncomfortable to wear.
A bar retained overdenture has the advantage of being secured in place with dental implants and will not move around in the patient's mouth. Dental implants also support bone health so risk of bone loss is minimized and patients are able to wear a denture that is comfortable and fits properly for much longer.
How is a bar retained overdenture placed?
For patients that are a candidate for a bar retained overdenture, they will first have a few implants placed in the arch being restored. Dental implants are a small titanium screw that is placed directly into the jawbone. An oral surgeon or periodontist will place four or more implants across the entire arch onto which the bar support for your overdenture is secured. The overdenture will have clips that will allow the patient to remove their denture for cleaning and oral care.
Tooth roots help stimulate bone regeneration and therefore patients that have a traditional denture often experience bone loss because of a lack of stimulation in the bone. Dental implants act as an artificial tooth root and help stimulate bone regeneration just like natural tooth roots.
Your dentist will use an impression of the arch to create a temporary denture for you to wear while your implants are healing. Once your implants are placed and ready for your new overdenture, your dentist will have you in for a new impression of your mouth which will be used to create the support bar and final overdenture. You will continue to wear your temporary denture until your final, permanent overdenture is ready.
Once your final denture is ready, you will have another visit to your dentist for a fitting to make sure that everything is perfect! Any adjustments that can be made in the office will be done at this appointment but if you need modifications or adjustments that the dental lab has to do, you will continue to wear temporary denture until your case is back.
Who is a candidate for a bar retained overdenture?
Any patient that is missing a significant number of teeth on one or both arches may be a candidate for a bar retained overdenture. It is important to speak with your dentist to make sure that you are overall healthy and can endure extensive implant surgery and the healing time that comes along with it, which can be up to six months.