Are Dentures Causing TMJ?
I’ve been in dentures for about 15 years and it feels like every year my jaw pain feels worse. I went to see a dentist about it and he said that I have TMJ disorder. He thinks it is because of my dentures and recommended that I switch to dental implants. Those are pretty pricey. Is this a legitimate thing or is he just trying to get some money out of a patient with no teeth?
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
I want to preface this by saying that I have not examined you, so the information I provide is more general in nature than specific to your case. It is true that you can develop facial collapse from dentures for a couple of reasons. One would be that your dentist made the dentures in such a way that it threw off the proper alignment of your bite. The would become noticeable fairly quickly. Based on what you described yours came on gradually, so I don’t think that is the case for you.
A second way this can occur is from the onset of facial collapse. When you removed your teeth, your body recognized that. Our bodies are extremely efficient. Realizing that you no longer have any teeth to support in your jaw, it will redistribute the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere. This has the unfortunate side effect of shrinking your jawbone. In fact, after ten or more years you will no longer have enough jawbone left to keep your dentures in at all. This is known as facial collapse.
As your jaw shrinks, it will affect the temporomandibular joint. This is what helps your jaw move. When your bite changes, the way this joint functions changes too. This can lead to TMJ problems. You’ve been in dentures for 15 years. My guess is, in addition to the jaw pain that you feel, you are starting to have trouble with the dentures themselves. Maybe they’re sliding more than they used to. Or maybe you can’t even keep them in.
Dental implants can fix that. You will need a bone grafting procedure first in order to build back up the lost structure. After that, you can either get removable dentures again, which will restart the whole cycle of facial collapse, or you can get implant supported dentures.
The implants signal to your body that you still have teeth, therefore it needs to leave your jawbone alone. If you go this direction, make sure your implant dentist also has training and experience teaching TMJ. This is so they have the skills to reframe your bite in a way that it has proper occlusion. This should stop your jaw pain.
This blog is brought to you by compassionate dentist in Moline Dr. Thomas Goebel.
Is It Too Late for Me to Have a Pretty Smile with Dental Implants?
I am a denture patient and have been wearing them for over 20 years. My smile has been unattractive this whole time. Is it too late for me to get a pretty smile with dental implants? I’ve seen pictures of them and they look much better than my smile.
Alana
Dear Alana,
I’m glad you wrote. Technically, it is never too late to get dental implants. Given that you have been in dentures for over twenty years, you will need one additional procedure to make it work, though. When your teeth were removed, your body recognized that and immediately began to resorb the minerals in your jawbone that you no longer needed to hold in your teeth. It does this in order to be efficient with your body’s resources.
However, the side effect for this is it slowly shrinks your jawbone. Your lower denture rests on that jawbone. You’ve likely started noticing that your denture is slipping more. Soon, you won’t be able to keep it in at all. This is known as facial collapse. Hopefully, your dentist warned you about this when you first discussed getting dentures.
The prevention of facial collapse is to place dental implants in your jaw and anchor your dentures to those. Some people call these implant overdentures. The implants signal to your body that you still have teeth to retain so it leaves your jawbone intact. You’ll also find that it increases your quality of life significantly. Even the best fitting dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. With dental implants, you’ll be able to eat anything you want again.
In order for you to get those dental implants, you’ll first need a bone grafting procedure. This will replace all the bone structure you lost while wearing dentures. This bone is essential in order to retain your dental implants. Then, once that is healed you can move forward with the implants.
One thing to be aware of is that the beauty of your smile will have nothing to do with whether or not you have dentures versus implants. Instead, it depends on the artistic skill of your dentist. You can have a skilled cosmetic dentist create gorgeous dentures. Ask to see their smile gallery of cases they’ve done to get an idea of the type of results they get. Also make sure they have post-doctoral training in dental implants. This is an advanced procedure and you don’t want to end up in a worse situation than you started.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.
Can’t Keep My Dentures In
I have been having massive trouble with my dentures not staying in. When I went in to see a dentist, he told me that most of the ridge is gone that supports the dentures. I’ve been wearing dentures for 23 years, even though I’m only 59 years old. I’m too embarrassed to go anywhere. Is there anything that can be done? The dentist I saw seemed to indicate it was too late.
Evelyn
Dear Evelyn,
I have some fantastic news for you! There is definitely a solution for what you’re going through. First, let me explain what has happened. When your teeth were first removed, your body instantly recognized that. In an effort to be as efficient as possible with your body’s resources it began to resorb the minerals in your jawbone that are no longer needed to help support any teeth roots. This way it can use those minerals elsewhere in your body where they may be more needed. It’s a beautiful design in efficiency.
The unfortunate side effect, though, is your jawbone begins to shrink. Eventually, as you are experiencing now, there is no longer enough jawbone left to retain your dentures, which depend on that bone. In dental circles, we call this facial collapse.
When you first lost your teeth, your dentist should have warned you about the long-term consequences of wearing dentures. However, there is nothing that can be done about the past, so… we move forward.
The Solution to Facial Collapse From Dentures
The first thing you’ll need to do is build back up the lost bone structure. This can be done with a bone grafting procedure. Once that is completed and healed, you have two choices. You can get dentures again. Just bear in mind that the whole process of facial collapse will start again. Second, you can get what is known as implant supported dentures.
With this procedure, you will have between four to eight dental implants placed, then after a period of time, allowing the bone to integrate with the implants and healing to take place, a set of dentures will be anchored to your dental implants. This will signal to your body that you still have teeth and it will leave your jawbone intact.
As a side benefit, you will also enjoy a higher quality of living. No longer will you have to worry about the dentures slipping or sliding. Plus, you can once again eat anything you want. Even the best fitting removable dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. With dental implants, that is no longer a problem.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.