A Look At Dental Implants vs. Dentures near Centreville, VA

The Difference Between Dental Implants vs. Dentures near Centreville, VA

Have you reached a point in your life where you’re seriously considering getting a set of dentures? Sooner or later, almost everyone reaches that point, so you’re certainly not alone. Before you schedule your appointment to get fitted for a set of dentures, though, have you considered implants instead?

While it’s true they’re not for everyone, implants are superior to dentures in almost every way you can imagine. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at dental implants vs. dentures near Centreville, VA to give you a better feel for what you’ll be getting into, whichever route you choose to go.

Let’s start our dental implants vs. dentures near Centreville, VA by taking a closer look at dentures. We’re starting there because dentures are the go-to solution for many people who have lost a number of their teeth. The problem is that dentures suffer from a number of annoying limitations that most people just live with.

Ask ten people who wear dentures if they love them, and you might—if you’re lucky—find one person who says they do. Most people just tolerate them. Here are a few of the problems associated with dentures:

1. They’re fragile – Dentures are among the most fragile of dental appliances. They’re just not built to last. Even if you’re incredibly careful with them, the best you can hope for is 1-2 years of useful life, and two years is being incredibly optimistic. That means that at regular intervals, you’re going to find yourself having to come back into our office to get fitted for a new set. Over the course of your life, you could wind up being fitted for a dozen or more sets of dentures.
2. They’re very high maintenance – Every night, you’re going to have to take them out of your head and put them in a glass of cleaning solution. If you forget once, you almost certainly won’t forget twice because your gums will give you a painful reminder. They’ll quickly become inflamed if you leave your dentures in your mouth too long, or if you put them back in dirty.
3. They tend to fall out. A lot – This is one of the most striking and annoying differences in our comparison of dental implants vs. dentures near Centreville, VA. Dentures fall out because the only thing keeping them in your head is a weak adhesive. If you don’t put enough of it on, they’re likely to fall out while you’re talking or taking a bite of food.
4. They change the way you speak – You’ll notice this right away because you’ll start speaking with a slight lisp as you adjust your mouth to the presence of the dentures and in a bid to keep them firmly affixed while you’re speaking. It’s annoying, but not a deal-breaker. Just another of those little quirks that denture wearers have to deal with.
5. They limit your diet – Do you enjoy eating popcorn? Chips and salsa? Corn on the cobb? Say goodbye to all of those if you get a set of dentures. The chips and popcorn will work their way under your dentures and inflame your gums, making those foods too painful to enjoy and remember, the only thing keeping dentures in your head is a weak adhesive, which can’t stand up to the force it takes to take a bite of corn off the cobb. You’ll wind up pulling your dentures right out of your mouth!

So that’s a quick summary of the drawbacks that dentures have. As bad as that sounds, dentures do have one super important advantage, which is the reason that despite their drawbacks, most people gravitate to them: They’re cheap. Even better, most dental insurance plans offer coverage provisions, which means you won’t pay much, if anything at all out of pocket to get them.

Now, having taken a look at dentures, let’s do the same thing for implants. We can go right down the line of the drawbacks to dentures and find that implants are superior. They’re not fragile. They’re literally screwed into your head and are virtually indestructible. In fact, odds are excellent that they’ll outlast you!

They’re also very low maintenance. There’s nothing special you have to do to care for your implants. Just brush and floss as you normally would. They don’t impact your speech patterns, and they don’t restrict your diet in any way. In fact, once they’re in place, you probably won’t even realize they’re there!

So in the comparison of dental implants vs. dentures near Centreville, VA, you might be wondering why on earth anybody would ever pick dentures?

Unfortunately, implants have two major drawbacks. First, in order to get them installed in your head, you have to undergo an invasive surgery. You’ll be under anesthesia while we put them in, and you will experience some pain and discomfort during your recovery period.

On top of that, dental implants are much more expensive than dentures. Worse, most dental insurance plans don’t offer coverage provisions for implants because they’re considered cosmetic. Some plans do, but you’ll need to read yours closely to see if they’re covered or not.

Either way, you can expect to pay more out of pocket for implants, and possibly a lot more. That’s why most people gravitate to dentures. They’re the low-cost solution.

So which solution is right for you? If you’re still not sure, feel free to give us a call or stop by to speak with us at our practice the next time you’re in the area.

When you’ve made a final decision, and you’re ready to schedule your appointment, know that with a bit of planning, you won’t have to miss work or take a vacation day to get your dentures or implants installed. We keep our office open late several days a week. At present, our office hours are as follows:

Monday: 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Tuesday: 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM

Wednesday: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Thursday: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Friday: 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Saturday: 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Sunday: Our office is closed on Sunday

So far, our discussion of dental implants vs. dentures near Centreville, VA may have left you with the impression that that’s all we do. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, we offer a whole range of dental services, both general and cosmetic. If you’re not yet at the stage where you need either of those, here are some of the other fantastic services we provide:

• Tooth-colored fillings
• Porcelain veneers
• Two alternatives to conventional braces, including:
• Invisalign
• And the Six Month Smiles Program
• Three different teeth whitening technologies, including:
• Zoom! In Office Whitening Treatment
• The Whitening For Life Program
• And our Kor Whitening System
• Crowns (including metal-free crowns)
• Sedation Dentistry
• And more!

Of course, none of the above matters if we don’t accept whatever dental insurance you have, which is why we’ve worked hard to expand the number of carriers we work with. At present, that list includes:

• Aetna
• Anthem
• Assurant
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• Carefirst
• Cigna’s Total DPPO plan
• Delta Dental
• GEHA
• Guardian
• Lincoln Financial Group
• Metlife
• Principal
• Sun Life
• And all United Concordia dental plans, save for those offered exclusively to active military members, who get their care on-base

Don’t be alarmed if you didn’t see your dental insurance company on the list above. In addition to that, we also accept both the Citi Health and Care Credit cards; we even accept payments via Paypal!

Unfortunately, some people don’t have any dental insurance at all, which is why we took the step of creating our very own Platinum Membership Program, which offers generous discounts on most of the services we provide.

The bottom line is simply this: Whatever your dental needs are, from general to cosmetic, from dentures to implants, we’ve got you covered. We want to be your dental practice of choice for as long as you’re living in the area. Give our office a call or stop by to see us the next time you’re in the area.

We're looking forward to meeting you!

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