How do you know what is best for you and your future? Cosmetic dentures or dental implants both solve the same problem: fixing your missing teeth. You need to look at the big picture.

Cosmetic Dentures

Cosmetic dentures are simply replacements of missing teeth. The false teeth can replace all the upper teeth or all the lower teeth (known as full dentures), or parts where groups of teeth are missing (called partials). The prosthetic teeth can be made from plastic or even porcelain. Today's cosmetic dentures not only function, but also look aesthetically pleasing.

Cosmetic dentures are removable, nonpermanent structures which use denture adhesive to keep them in place during the day. You remove them and clean them at night.
Dental Implants

By contrast, dental implants are a permanent solution to the problem of missing teeth. They are attached to the jawbone by the use of implanted anchors. The anchor sits below the gum line.

Titanium posts are attached to the anchors. These posts function like the teeth roots. They sit above the gum line.

Finally, a prosthetic tooth crown is attached on top of the post.

Because the implant is made of titanium, it integrates with the jawbone (called osseointegration), forming a functional and structural bond that can withstand the high-stress force that chewing creates.

Advantages of Dental Implants over Cosmetic Dentures

When comparing cosmetic dentures and dental implants, dental implants are the preferred solution because they have several advantages:

· Aesthetics - dental implants are the closest thing to your natural teeth because they are anchored in your mouth in a duplication of the way your natural teeth are anchored in, so they look, act, and feel like the real thing.

· Confidence - dental implants look and feel like your natural teeth so they make you feel confident because you feel natural. They also don't impede speech because they fit in your mouth the same as your natural teeth do.

· Facial stability - because dental implants provide the same support for your face as natural teeth, they can reduce or eliminate wrinkles that you may have gotten when teeth were missing. Also, they stabilize the face by holding it up so it doesn't appear sunken. It's almost like a face lift because sunken faces make people look much older then they actually are.

· Functionality - dental implants improve your ability to chew food because they can withstand almost as much biting and chewing force as natural teeth

· No teeth are sacrificed - dentures may require some teeth to be pulled, and partial dentures may use neighboring teeth as anchors, thus necessitating that some of those teeth be altered to support the partial denture

· Reliability - since dental implants look and function just like natural teeth, they offer you the ability to relax and feel more confident without worrying whether they will fall out. You just care for them like your natural teeth. You don't need special cleaners or adhesives.

When looking into dental implants or cosmetic dentures, look for a cosmetic dentist that offers both accuracy and precision in both the diagnosis of missing teeth as well as the treatment solution. Dr. Djawdan in the Baltimore area is the first and only cosmetic dentist who offers I-CAT dental CT scan and 3-D imaging software in his office. The combination of these tools allows him to completely envision the placement of your implants in a realistic, three-dimensional setting and create a surgical map which guides him in placing the dental implants.

Cosmetic dentures can look very good when they are designed correctly. However, when looking at the big picture, you can see that dental implants are the preferred treatment because of their advantages over cosmetic dentures.