Out of Interest

xzanti

I’v noticed in people who have lost upper front teeth and wear dentures, they loose the support that the roots once gave to the upper lip and the lips look almost deflated or shrivelled… Would the roots or screws of implants give the effect that the roots once did??? Or would they not go high enough into the gum??

Big_G

Loss of upper anterior teeth can cause bone loss which in turn (in combination with loss of teeth) can cause loss of lip support.
This is evident in people with increasing nasolabial angle (angle between the bottom of the nose and the lip when observed from the side) and increasing depth or definition of nasolabial lines (confusingly the tissue line extending from the nose to the corner of the mouth - you see them when you smile).

Implants can only partially restore lip support due to replacement of teeth, not increase of bony support (AFAIK). Unless the bone is moved or augmented before implant placement the lip will remain slightly depressed.

This is a big problem for restorative dentistry. It is more easily managed by a well made labial flange on a denture, where acrylic replaces lost bone. Labial flanges in porcelain can be included in implant restoration but they are difficult to keep clean.

It needs to be stressed that each case is entirely different to the next and loss of lip support needs to be assessed by a professional in a clinical setting, with radiographs and possibly clinical photographs.

Big_G

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Thanks Big_G...in other words when you lose your teeth you also loose the bone that hold them in giving the collapsed look to the face. I denture can put plastic where the bone used to be to plump out the lip and give the look of gum. Implants dont extend into the lip like that but sometimes you can use tricks to make it look like it does.It depends on how much bone you have lost which is usually related to how long the tooth is missing. You can get bone and gum grafts but these add significantly to treatment time and cost. Implants are usually a better option if you can have them dentures are not ideal in terms of stability and retention.