The Price You’re Really Paying for the Cost of Dentures

This article explores the fine-print: the unseen additional costs (both short and long term) patients have to pay when opting for removable dentures as their tooth replacement technology.

One of a patient’s most pressing concerns when it comes to choosing a tooth replacement technology is the amount of money it will cost. While teeth implants may offer the most advanced, comprehensive and long term solution to rampant tooth loss and edentulism (not having a single original adult tooth left), they are not, unfortunately, inexpensive. Having said this, few patients really appreciate and understand that the more traditional approach to teeth replacement - removable dentures or false teeth - actually ends up costing the same amount of money as dental implants, if not more in the long term! How on Earth can this be so? Because the cost of dentures, the hidden repeated costs, include the need for refitting every few years and, on a daily basis, adhesives, cleaning agents, storage containers and anesthetic gels. By opting for dental implants, you are essentially ensuring the longevity of your oral health and youthful smile, as well as securing yourself a much better quality of life.

So, if you have lost all of your original adult teeth, or are about to, perhaps you should ask yourself the following questions:

•Do you really understand what the real cost of dentures is?

•Is it the smartest investment you can make in your oral health?

Understanding the Real Cost of Dentures: Repeat Expenses

You might have to fork out as little as $250 for the standard cost of dentures. And this can quite easily seem like a no-brainer when compared with what you’d pay for complete oral rehabilitation using dental implants. But that paltry amount does not reflect the real cost of dentures. No, the toll this traditional dental technology takes on your bank account and on your quality of life can be quite devastating.
Added up over the years, these repeated expenses can actually surpass what you would pay to have a new set of teeth placed with dental implants:


•The cost of dentures: Anesthetic gels are necessary to numb the pain and discomfort caused by these bulky plastic teeth resting, pushing and rubbing against the gums.

•The cost of dentures: Messy adhesives are needed to prevent ill-fitting dentures from shifting and slipping around in the mouth when eating and speaking.

•The cost of dentures: Cleaning agents are necessary to sterilize the plastic insides of dentures, which easily harbor food particles and encourage bacterial growth.

A single packet of adhesives or a tube of numbing gel is not going to leave you bankrupt but over the years, the cost of these products does add up. In the long run, you’ll end up shelling out thousands of dollars on the cost of dentures and their associated products. And this money could have gone towards a much more sophisticated solution to edentulism in the first place!

Understanding the Real Cost of Dentures: Refitting Due to Bone Loss

Where the long term cost of dentures really becomes exorbitant is in the need for refitting every few years or so. You see, unlike dental implants, dentures only replace the visible portion of your missing teeth: the crowns. By not replacing the missing tooth roots, the jaw bone is left without the stimulation it needs to remain alive and healthy. As a result, this hard tissue atrophies and wastes away and the resultant loss of bone volume over the years causes the jaw to actually change shape. Dentures that once may have fitted snugly and without shifting around much become increasingly loose and uncomfortable, which requires patients to go back to their dentist and pay for the cost of dentures all over again. This time, the refitted dentures will be custom fabricated to fit the new contours of the jaw. But this is a problem that occurs again and again as the jaw bone loses more and more of its volume to atrophy. Eventually, dentures will no longer offer a viable tooth replacement solution. Eventually, ironically enough, patients will be forced to undergo bone grafting and dental implant surgery if they want a full set of teeth again!

The Real Cost of Dentures: A Final Note

The take-home message is this: the real cost of dentures just doesn’t work out to your advantage. You not only pay more money in the long term for this inferior technology, you also sacrifice your quality of life and youthful appearance. Dental implants are a one-time investment that offers a far superior solution to rampant tooth loss and edentulism.

The Real Cost of Dentures: Five Hidden Expenses You Never Knew Of! Part 2

This two-part article series presents five hidden expenses and repeated costs that patients opting for removable dentures may never have been aware of.

In our previous article post, courtesy of qualified and experienced implant dentist, Dr. Wayne Brueggen, we began discussing the real cost of dentures, which unbeknownst to patients, actually includes the repeated need for products such as adhesives and anesthetic gels. In this article, the final installment of a two-part series, we shall examine the remaining three hidden expenses. Armed with a more sophisticated understanding of the real cost of dentures, it is hoped that patients will make a far more informed decision when it comes to choosing a tooth replacement technology.

3.    The Real Cost of Dentures: Refitting

Removable dentures do nothing to promote the health of the underlying jaw bone and the subsequent atrophy of this hard tissue results in the deterioration of its volume. A changing jaw bone thus necessitates the refitting of dentures every few years or so. So if you thought you were saving money by having dentures fitted instead of dental implants, you should be aware that the cost of dentures is far from a one-time investment. In the end, many patients actually require bone grafting surgery and dental implants because there simply isn’t enough bone left in the jaw to support dentures!

4.    The Real Cost of Dentures: Your Confidence and Self-Esteem

The cost of dentures doesn’t only take its toll out on patients’ pockets… there are some very important intangible sacrifices that you will need to make should you opt for this archaic tooth replacement solution over dental implants. Because dentures are not anchored in the mouth, they can slip around and even fall out, which is a constant source of social discomfort for denture-wearers. They also require removal at nighttime and after meals for cleaning, which poses many social challenges. Chronic bad breath, discomfort, impeded taste ability and even the triggering of the gag reflex all combine to make living with dentures incredibly difficult. Low confidence and self-esteem are not uncommon amongst those that live with this archaic tooth replacement technology and this emphasizes the real cost of dentures patients are forced to pay.

5.    The Real Cost of Dentures: Your Youthful Smile

One of the most unfortunate of all the sacrifices patients are forced to pay when it comes to the cost of dentures is their youthful smile. As it was mentioned in point 3, dentures do nothing to promote the health of the underlying jaw bone. Over the years, the loss of bone tissue volume in the jaw results in the sunken and aged appearance about the mouth we typically associate with the elderly and denture-wearers. In other words, the real cost dentures is your beautiful smile and youthful facial contours. Are you prepared to make such as sacrifice?

The Cost of Dentures: What about Dental Implants?

At the end of the day, dental implants offer a much better, more sophisticated and long-term solution to tooth loss and edentulism. While they come with a greater initial price tag than dentures, in the long term, patients enjoy a much better quality of life and without all those repeated expenses and challenges that come hand-in-hand with false teeth.

Don’t compromise upon your long term oral health and smile confidence. Contact the Brueggen Dental Implant Center today about your comprehensive tooth replacement solution using cutting-edge dental implant protocols and products. Say ‘no’ to the cost of dentures and ‘yes’ to a lifetime of oral comfort, smile confidence and simplicity.

The Real Cost of Dentures: Five Hidden Expenses You Never Knew Of! Part 1

This two-part article series presents five hidden expenses and repeated costs that patients opting for removable dentures may never have been aware of.

Qualified and experienced implant dentist, Dr. Wayne Brueggen, has seen it time and again: patients who are either already edentulous (not having a single original adult tooth left) or are facing an immediate future of edentulism opt for removable dentures over and above dental implants as a means for tooth replacement. And this is almost always because the former provides an immediately cheaper solution to tooth loss. But what you didn’t know about the cost of dentures is that its full extent is certainly not reflected by the bill you receive from your dentist! With time and over the years, as bone loss in the jaw advances unabated, the real cost of dentures - to your pocket and oral health - becomes apparent. And it is for these reasons that dental implants offer a far more sophisticated and comprehensive solution to multiple missing teeth and total tooth loss.

So, if you are considering a tooth replacement technology, perhaps it’s time you became aware of the real Cost dentures. Here are the five hidden expenses you never knew about.

1.    The Real Cost of Dentures: Adhesives

As a one-time purchase, adhesives, which are used to provide removable dentures with stability in the mouth, preventing them from slipping around, are far from prohibitively expensive. But they are a necessity. And as long as you wear false teeth, they always will be. As such, the cost of dentures really comes hand-in-hand with the repeated need for adhesive products. Add up the cost of adhesives over the years and even decades and you are looking at spending an exorbitant amount of money! Dental implants, which are placed permanently in the mouth, never require adhesives. So while this technology may come with a higher initial price tag, over the years, the money you save on the real cost of dentures actually evens out!

2.    The Real Cost of Dentures: Anesthetic Gels

Another product denture-wearers can’t live without is anesthetic gel, which constitutes another hidden and repeat expense for the cost of dentures. Unlike dental implants or your natural teeth, removable dentures rely upon the gums for support. As a result, whenever you eat, the forces associated with chewing and grinding are transmitted to this soft tissue and not the underlying jaw bone as is what should naturally occur. Speaking also causes dentures to shift and roll around in the mouth, rubbing against the gums and palate. This causes irritation, inflammation and the development of sores that are not permitted to heal. In fact, the pain caused by eating with dentures has been linked with malnutrition in the elderly! Anesthetic gels provide some respite from this pain, but this repeat expense is yet another addition to the real cost of dentures.

The Cost of Dentures: Stay Tuned…

To find out more about the real cost of dentures and all those hidden expenses you are likely to pay, stay tuned for the final installment of this two-part article series, courtesy of qualified and experienced implant dentist, Dr. Wayne Brueggen.

The Cost of Dentures: The Price Patients Really Pay!

This article lists all the additional costs and expenses patients wearing removable dentures have to pay, in both the long and short term.

The Cost of Dentures: Introduction

Perhaps a patient’s biggest concern when considering a tooth replacement technology is cost. Dental implants, while offering the most sophisticated and long term solution to single, multiple and total tooth loss, are known to be at the high end of the cost spectrum. However, what few patients know is that older, more traditional technologies, such as removable dentures end up costing the same if not more in the long run. And this is as a result of the need for restoration, refitting and repeated expenses such as adhesives, anesthetic gels and cleaning agents. By making that initial investment in the cost of dental implants, patients are ensuring the longevity of their oral health while securing themselves a much better quality of life. So, if you are in need of a new set of teeth, perhaps it’s time you were asked the question: do you understand the real cost of dentures? And is it the smartest investment you can make?

The Real Cost of Dentures: Adhesives, Anesthetic Gels and Cleaning Products

The initial cost of dentures can be as little as $250. That seems like a paltry amount to pay when compared with dental implants, but these three digits belie the true cost of dentures. The toll this archaic technology takes not only on your wallet, but on your quality of life can prove to be quite devastating. First of all, the cost of dentures will always include the need for:

• Adhesives to prevent them from slipping and shifting around.
• Anesthetic gels to numb the pain and discomfort caused by (1) the pressure they exert on the underlying soft tissue and (2) the sores caused by their rubbing against the gums.
• Cleaning agents: dentures harbor food and bacteria and as such, require removal and thorough cleaning after every meal and at nighttime.

Now buying a pack of adhesives is not going to break the bank, but over the years, the ceaseless need for all of these products adds up. In the long run the cost dentures and associated products accumulates into thousands of dollars, which could have paid for dental implants in the first place!

The Real Cost of Dentures: Jaw Bone Loss and Denture Refitting

But where the cost of dentures really takes its toll is on the health of the underlying jaw bone. Unlike dental implants, removable dentures only replace the tooth crowns. The loss of the tooth roots and the stimulation they provide to the jaw bone causes this hard tissue to atrophy and waste away. Over the years, the loss of bone volume in the jaw causes it to change in shape and dentures that previously fit snugly in the mouth become acutely uncomfortable. This requires patients to go to the dentist and pay for the cost of dentures that are custom fabricated to fit the contours of their jaw better. And this is no one-time exercise. Patients will be required to pay for the cost of dentures every few years or so until they have lost such a significant volume of bone in the jaw that – and here’s the irony – dental implants are the only teeth replacement solution available to them. That’s right! Patients who wear removable dentures for years frequently end up requiring dental implants and expensive, painful bone grafting surgery simply because there is insufficient jaw bone volume to viably support dentures.

A Final Note on the Cost of Dentures

You may think the cost of dentures works out to your advantage, but in the long run, you are paying the price in more than just money… you also sacrifice your youthful appearance and quality of life. For a one-time investment, dental implants offer a far superior and longer lasting tooth replacement solution that look, feel and function just like natural teeth.