My husband had 4 mini dental implants to hold his bottom denture. One of them broke last year and the dentist surgically removed the broken implant. In the process his lower jaw is no longer shaped the same. He had a new set of dentures made last month. The implants in his jaw are 3M. His current dentist said they are too hard to find o-rings for and would be putting shatkin housings in the denture. The dentures came back from the lab and his dentist drilled the housing holes and told my husband he need to wear them and eat with them for a week before he put housings in. My husband tried to do what he was told but they rocked so bad eating on the implants he was scared of breaking another implant. When he told the dentist the dentist was mad but put in the housing and then went on vacation. We can not see him for 2 weeks. My husband tried to eat with the denture and they are rocking and the back lifts off his gums. My husband has had dentures for 10 years he is not new to them and has never had this much wobble. He compared them to his old pair. The new ones have almost no groove for the gum. They rest right on top. His old dentures have a very deep groove for the gums and implants. The old dentures fit like a shoe these are like a flip flop. We paid $4,000 out of pocket + my husband's full $1000 in dental insurance for the year for new dentures and the only way to make these fit is to remove the housings and create a deeper trench for the gums. I don't know if anyone can answer my questions but they are. 1. is it normal for new dentures to be this far from fitting. 2. Is it normal to mix one type of implants with another companies housings. 3. Is it normal for brand new dentures to need to be relined. I am desperate for any information . We have spent what for us is a lot of money and can't afford to go to another dentist to get them fixed so he has to keep going back. Before his dentist comes back from vacation we need to know what it would take to fix the dentures . Thank you
Help with new dentures
- Thread starter donnav
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MattKW
Verified Dentist
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- Mar 18, 2018
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My experience with mini-implants is limited. In the past, I have used precision attachments, and some of the principles for success are the same. I have been to a mini-implant course, and done a number of standard implant courses.
Overdentures with mini-implants are a good idea. The most important feature is to have them all aligned as parallel as possible, and I would also suggest having at least 4 if possible for minis (with normal implants you can work well with only two). The fact that it broke makes me wonder about the parallelism - an OPG X-ray would help. Also, the bone under dentures shrinks and flattens over time, so the dentures need to be relined regularly (maybe 5 years), or they will start rocking, and this can also lead to breakage. If the new ones are rocking already, then you might have to ask for a complimentary reline. Do it politely and see what happens.
You might consider a 2nd opinion from another dentist, or you will have to wait until your dentist returns.
Overdentures with mini-implants are a good idea. The most important feature is to have them all aligned as parallel as possible, and I would also suggest having at least 4 if possible for minis (with normal implants you can work well with only two). The fact that it broke makes me wonder about the parallelism - an OPG X-ray would help. Also, the bone under dentures shrinks and flattens over time, so the dentures need to be relined regularly (maybe 5 years), or they will start rocking, and this can also lead to breakage. If the new ones are rocking already, then you might have to ask for a complimentary reline. Do it politely and see what happens.
You might consider a 2nd opinion from another dentist, or you will have to wait until your dentist returns.