My mother is in her 80s and not in the best of health. She’s been having trouble with her teeth and they need to be removed. Her dentist is suggesting she get dental implant overdentures. I’m a bit concerned about the effect on her health. I’m hoping there is another option for her, but her dentist told her that without it her face would collapse. Now she is in a panic. Can you help me understand her options? I don’t have great confidence in her dentist.
Daisy
Dear Daisy,
I am very glad you wrote. Your instincts are good. There is something not kosher going on here. First, a dentist is ethically obligated to give a patient all of their options. Not only did her dentist not do that, but he also made her feel like she’d put herself at risk by not doing his prefered treatment.
As for the facial collapse he mentioned, while that is a real issue, at your mother’s age it will not be an issue. Here is why. When teeth are removed, your body recognizes that and immediately begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone. It does this in order to be as efficient with your body’s resources as possible. You no longer have teeth roots which means you no longer have teeth which need to be supported.
The unfortunate side effect of this is that your jawbone will slowly begin to shrink. In about ten to fifteen years, you will have lost so much of your jawbone that you will no longer have enough left to retain your dentures. This is what is known as facial collapse. That is what you see in the image above. The solution to that is dental implants because it signals to your body that you still have teeth in your mouth and, as a result, it leaves your jawbone intact.
However, as morbid as it sounds, given your mother’s age, that is not likely to be an issue. In her case, removable dentures will be just fine.
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