Custom made conventional dentures. The gums have been characterized and a gold facing been used to add to the realism of the dentures.
Not everyone has the resources or the anatomy to completely replace a totally missing dentition with dental implants, or perhaps not right away. Implant overdentures can offer an intermediate solution, a blending of both removable and fixed components.
These combination restorations can offer the superior aesthetics of removable prostheses, where much of the jaw bone has been lost and can't be made up by implants alone, along with the stability and reliability of several implants that don't lose bone around them and don't decay. There are two categories of restorations that blend both implants and dentures.
Implant Supported Overdentures
Figure 2
In this situation, 2 - 4 implants are used to support an overlying removable denture, thereby greatly increasing the stability of the prosthesis and maintaining the bone in the places were the implants are located. This offers the advantage of both removable and implant services at a lower cost.
Figure 2 is an X-ray of totally implant supported bridges that restore the patient's entire upper teeth and eliminates a denture. The patient must have enough bone and gums to not only hold the implants, but to make things look normal as well.
Hybrid (Fixed-Detachable) Dentures
Figure 3
Hybrid dentures go one step further in combining the characteristics of a removable denture with the fixed nature of implants. They provide not only teeth but the gum tissues in the prosthesis just as is done with an overdenture. The difference is that by using one or two more implants, it is possible to permanently attach the denture/teeth components to the implants as seen to the left.
Figure 3 is an example of a "hybrid" lower denture, which requires 4-5 implants. The same can be done in the upper but with a minimum of 6 implants Because the bone is weaker in the upper jaw.