So our goal is always to keep teeth if we can, but if someone is to the point where they’ve lost a lot of teeth, their teeth are so compromised that dentures are really the next step, we have a few different options. So there’s the traditional denture, which we’re taking lengthy steps with our lab to make sure that those traditional dentures are as natural looking as possible and they’re comfortable. If we are trying to look for a fixed option, we do have options to do what’s called an all on X or an implant supported denture.
So that’s something that you actually aren’t taking in and out of your mouth, but you’re replacing a full set of teeth with something that is fixed, that doesn’t leave your mouth. Our goal with anyone who is what we call a dentureless, so once you’re missing teeth, that means that you’re technically considered someone who is, it’s a disability by the World Health Organization standards. So to miss teeth means that we are, you know, decreasing our nutrition, decreasing our digestive part of that.
Cognitive decline follows the pathway of missing teeth and losing that function. And then the aesthetic part of that, and obviously the aging part. So you’re prematurely aging your face, your smile, all those things come along with missing teeth.
So to support those structures, our chewing function, our cognitive abilities, we want to support the, you know, not only soft tissues, but hard tissues. So function, how are we chewing and processing our food every day? And then how are we taking that person and bringing them back to a healthy state again?
