Implant-Supported Dentures

Kirshen Dental has been placing and restoring dental implants for over 30 years. He was a pioneer in dental implantology in it’s infancy when it first emerged out of the University setting and came to the Toronto area in the early 80’s. Implants are surgically placed and allowed to heal for 8 to 12 weeks in the lower jaw and 4 to 5 months in the upper jaw. The difference in length of healing times is due to the quality of the marrow spaces in the bone between the upper and lower jaws. Once healing is complete then attachments are placed in the implants and the reciprocal mate is placed in the denture. As you place your denture in your mouth there is a strong retentive force which holds the denture in place and does not allow it to move during function. Throw away your denture adhesives forever. The retentive clips in the denture can be changed every few years to keep the ideal pressure on the implants. The minimum number of implants is 1 or 2 per side. From experience, placing a third implant in the lower jaw allows for greater stability of the denture and less micro-motion. In the upper jaw 4 implants are often recommended due to the aforementioned difference in quality of bone. Dentistry incorporates art and science but let us not forget engineering, as we must engineer the case strong enough to withstand the different forces. Each case is individualized depending on the amount of bone and size and shape of an individuals jaw. The alteranatives for implant supported dentures are fixed implant supported bridges. Read more about them in our implant section.