Dental Implants

Many millions of people around the world use removable complete dentures, and while these are designed to serve as substitutes for natural teeth, they are, at best, a compromise. Because dentures are not retained by tooth roots, they can move or slip when speaking, eating or yawning. Pressures exerted on the gums while chewing or food particles lodged under the base can also make dentures uncomfortable. In addition, the bone which provides support and retention for the dentures may continue to shrink slowly making it more difficult to wear dentures comfortably. Despite the many problems with dentures few advances in treatment techniques were made after the introduction of improved plastic materials in the 1940s, although these were only widely used after the Second World War.