There are many potential solutions to replace missing teeth. Traditional dentures, both partials, and full dentures are a good approach in many situations, but they’re not always the best, especially when it comes to eating. Dental implants work great to improve your ability to eat even challenging foods.
Bite Hard
Dentures can dramatically weaken your bite. That’s because dentures just sit on top of your gums, which aren’t meant to support the force of your bite. Even after you’ve adjusted to your full dentures by hardening up your gums, you’re still going to have a dramatically weaker bite, and the problem just gets worse as you lose more and more teeth.
But dental implants anchor in your jaw bone just like natural teeth. As a result, dental implants can give you a full-strength bite, comparable to what you had with your natural teeth.
Chew Naturally
Dentures also have an unfortunate tendency to become dislodged when chewing. That’s because a natural chewing technique involves a complex range of motions, including up-down, side-to-side, and front-to-back. In order to be able to chew with dentures, you have to use a simpler motion, mostly up and down, which works.
Dental implants help secure your replacement teeth. The implants won’t become dislodged by any chewing technique, and, depending on the connection method you choose, neither will your implant dentures.
Avoid Gum Irritation
When your dentures sit on top of your gums, putting stress on the gums, chewing can be irritating or painful. The force of chewing on the gums can lead to red, sore gums.
And then there’s also the problem of getting food trapped up under the denture. This can be especially painful with small pieces of seeds or nuts that are hard and jagged.
With implant dentures, food is less likely to get under the denture, but even if they do, irritation will be less because the denture isn’t putting pressure on the gums–the force directs into the bones.
Keep Food from Sticking
Food doesn’t just get caught up under the denture; it can stick to the denture. Although the plastic of traditional dentures can reduce sticking, food still has a tendency to cling to dentures, much more than to natural teeth. Bread products are especially bad. They can often cause food to stick in places that are hard for your tongue to reach and cleanout. This can mean that you’re constantly washing your dentures after meals. If you’re wondering what gum can you chew with dentures, there are a few brands to choose from like Freedent, Trident, and Epic Dental Gum.
Finding gum that doesn’t stick to dentures can feel challenging which is why many patients might opt for implant dentures. They contain less plastic, making them more resistant to food sticking.
Taste Your Food Better
Dentures can interfere with your ability to taste your foods. Full upper dentures cover the palate, which plays an important role in helping you taste the food. Replacing this denture with an implant denture allows us to eliminate the plate so your palate will be able to enjoy all of the flavors of your food. Our patients find that their dentures taste like plastic which can affect the way food tastes.
Limited chewing also impacts your ability to taste the food. The traditional denture chewing technique means you’ll have food in your mouth for longer, but the flavor is often released slower and in a different balance than with traditional chewing, making food taste less healthy.
You also can’t savor drinks in your mouth with dentures, because this tends to dislodge them and get food and drink up underneath.
Enjoy a Better Life with Dental Implants
Do you want a tooth replacement option that lets you live life to the fullest, including enjoying all your favorite foods? Then you’re looking for dental implants. Don’t worry, getting dental implants doesn’t hurt and all the benefits are absolutely worth it.
For more information about dental implants, please call (248) 656-2020 for an appointment with an implant dentist in Rochester, MI.
