The go-to treatment to replace missing teeth used to be dentures or false teeth. The dentures sat over the gum and replicated the look and feel of a normal tooth or teeth.

Then along came dental implants and All-on-4 implants; the gold class of the replacement teeth world. Once fitted, dental implants are usually with you for life. They look and feel like a normal tooth and last for decades.

Sounds pretty good hey? No, they’re better than that. They’re life-changing!

Let’s look at them both in more detail:

Dentures are false teeth that sit over your gums and are made of acrylic (plastic), nylon or metal. They were created as a solution for missing teeth to help you eat more easily and have more confidence when smiling.

Dentures are usually on a plastic or metal frame and are completely removable, which sounds handy, but it means they can be prone to moving around in the mouth and trapping food and plaque bacteria under your gumline.

Dental implants are a more modern approach to replace your missing teeth. The implant is a little anchor that is implanted into your jaw. On top of the implant, we attach a crown which looks and feels exactly like your real tooth. Implants are a permanent solution to closing up gaps in your teeth and once they’re in you don’t need to think about them – you just eat, smile and chew as normal.

If your teeth are badly damaged, or if you have gum disease, you can have All-on-4 treatment. All-on-4 is when a full set of new teeth are supported by four or more dental implants (Dentists aren’t very creative with names I’m afraid).

The thing about our mouth is that it likes things to stay in the same place, especially when it comes to eating food, staying hygienic and giving you a beautiful smile.

The problem with dentures is that they don’t stay in the same place! They’re on a removable frame, which means they’re not fixed.

That means they can shift around in your mouth which makes it difficult for you to eat, speak and smile. This is made worse by your dentures relying on saliva to stay in place. As you get older, or if you take certain medications, your saliva flow is much lower which means your mouth is drier and your dentures will move around even more.

Well, they are called false teeth….

A lot of patients have trouble getting used to Dentures because they’re not like natural teeth. They feel strange and uncomfortable and we’re often fixing older dentures to make them fit better.

Dentures can make you feel older

Dentures can make your face look sunken, which makes you look older than you are. This happens because the bone where your teeth used to be eventually starts to disintegrate, which changes the shape of your face.

You also have to remove your dentures at night, and wouldn’t it be nicer if you could just go to sleep and not worry about taking them out?

We’re Gippslanders, dental implants let you love your food

The biggest drawback with dentures is the eating! Living in Gippsland means we’re all big food-lovers, so nothing makes us sadder than hearing we can’t eat certain foods. And that’s one of the biggest setbacks with dentures – they restrict your diet.

If you’re wearing dentures, you’re safer sticking to softer foods that aren’t too chewy or sticky. How boring! We want to choose from the entire menu when I go to Hoggets!

Any dental treatment should improve your life, not restrict it! That’s why most of our patients now choose dental implants or All on 4 instead of dentures.

The dental implant will fit into your lifestyle so well that you’ll hardly notice it’s there

Here are some other things we love about dental implants and All on 4:

• You lose less bone, which avoids the sunken-in look on your face and makes you look younger
• You care for your dental implant as you would any other tooth, so it’s easy to take care of
• No bare gums at night, which can make you feel older than you are
• You can live freely without having to worry about a removable denture
• Dental implants and All on 4 let you enjoy eating any food you want
• They have impact on surrounding teeth
• Dental implants and All on 4 feel and look more natural

Fitting dental implants is a pretty special skill; that’s why we’re delighted to offer it to Warragul and Gippsland.

Dental implants are the modern solution to fix the problem of missing teeth. Your implant is comfortable, hard-wearing and will last you decades.

This is what an implant looks like:

The implant refers to the bit at the bottom of your new tooth. We attach it into the bone in your jaw and it works just like an anchor made from super-strong titanium.

On top of the anchor, we place an abutment, then the crown or bridge, like this:

And that’s how you get your brand-new tooth!

At Warragul Dental Care we carry out your end-to-end dental implant treatment in the Practice. That means you get to know the team, feel comfortable and ask any questions along the way.

The procedure itself is plain sailing and all done with anaesthetic, so you won’t feel a thing.

We have a range of comfort options to keep you relaxed, including unlimited Netflix, Bruce (our dental therapy dog) and noise-cancelling headphones. Let us know before you come in if you’re nervous about the Dentist. Our team are great at caring for nervous patients. If you’re really nervous, we also offer general anaesthetic.

The fee for a dental implant and All on 4 will vary depending on the condition of the bone and how many implants you want. Your investment for one dental implant starts at around $4500. We’ve got a great range of flexible payment plans starting at just $35 per week to make treatment easy and accessible, so you can start today.

Interested in learning more about dental implants and All on 4? You can head to our page on dental implants, which explains the process or get in touch with the team by calling 5623 5588 or drop in to see one of our friendly team at 49 Victoria Street, Warragul.

We can’t wait to see you!

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