Dental Implants vs Dentures: Your Best Long-Term Investment in Oral Health in Schererville, Indiana

AI generated image of a woman smiling with half her mouth being depicted as dentures in a close up pull out and half being depicted as full mouth dental implants in a pull out close up.

Losing one or more teeth can make everyday activities like talking, eating, and smiling hard. Dentures (removable false teeth) have been used for many years, but dental implants are a newer, more permanent option. At Jay Platt, DDS Oral Surgery and Dental Implant Center in Schererville, Indiana, we want you to understand how these choices affect your mouth and money over time.

What Are Dentures and Implants? Dentures are fake teeth you can take out. A full set replaces all teeth, and partial dentures fill in gaps when you still have some teeth. Dentures for both upper and lower plates typically cost between $1,520 and $3,648 for traditional mid-priced models.1 They need fixes and new sets every 5–10 years and don’t help keep your jawbone strong, which can make your face look sunken.

Dental implants are titanium posts placed into your jawbone during surgery, acting like real tooth roots. They hold crowns, bridges, or full-arch teeth firmly in place. One implant (with the post, connector, and crown) costs about $1,646 to $4,157, with an average of $2,143.2 Even though implants cost more at first ($3,000–$6,000 each), they bond to your bone and can last 20 years or more, often for life.

Cost Over Time A review of studies in Europe and North America found that implant-supported dentures cost less per year of use over ten years than regular dentures.3 In other words, implants may cost more at the start, but you spend less on repairs and replacements.

Comfort and Function Dentures can slip and need glue, and they only give you about 25–30% of your natural bite strength. Implants stay in place, letting you bite and chew almost like you used to. This means you can eat a wider variety of foods and keep good nutrition. Implants also let you speak normally because they stay put.

Cleaning and Care With dentures, you take them out at night, clean them with special solutions, and use adhesives to hold them in place. Not cleaning them well can cause mouth sores or infections. Implants work like real teeth: you brush and floss them daily and visit the dentist twice a year.

Protecting Your Jawbone Dentures sit on top of your gums and don’t stimulate the bone underneath. Over time, the bone shrinks, and your face can look older. A study that followed patients for 6.4 years found that dentures on four implants lost only 0.13 mm of bone, while regular dentures lost 3.26 mm (p < 0.001).4 Another study showed that four implants keep your jawbone nearly 1 mm stronger than just two implants or dentures (mean difference –0.96 mm; P = .04).5

Patient Happiness In a study of 58 people without teeth, 48.3% were “very satisfied” with implant-supported dentures, while only 6.9% felt the same about regular dentures. Those with implants said they felt more comfortable, stable, and could chew better.6

Who Can Get Implants? Not everyone can have implants right away. People with very low bone may need bone grafts first or choose dentures if they don’t want surgery. Most healthy patients with enough bone are good candidates for implants. We provide complete exams to see what’s best for you.

Why Choose Jay Platt, DDS?

  • Over 30 years of experience
  • Advanced digital planning for exact placement
  • Complete care from consultation to final teeth
  • Flexible payment plans to help with costs

Dentures might seem cheaper at first, but the cost of repairs, replacements, and bone loss adds up. Dental implants offer lasting comfort, function, and keep your face from looking sunken. They are a smart, long-term choice for a healthy smile.

Call to Action
Ready to make a lasting choice for your smile? Call 219-864-1133 or visit jplattdds.com to schedule your implant consultation today!

References

  1. How Much Do Dentures Cost? Price by Type and State. CareCredit. Posted September 13, 2024. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.carecredit.com/well-u/health-wellness/denture-cost/
  2. Driver K. Dental implants cost and procedure guide. CareCredit. Posted March 14, 2025. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.carecredit.com/well-u/health-wellness/dental-implants-cost-dental-implants-financing/
  3. Ghiasi P, Ahlgren C, Arnebrant L, Tranæus S, Larsson C. Cost-effectiveness of maxillary implant-supported overdentures compared to complete dentures and implant-supported fixed dental prostheses—A systematic review. Int J Dent Oral Health. 2021;7(3):357. doi:10.16966/2378-7090.357
  4. Sokolowski A, Huber S, Arefnia B, Pichler A, Lorenzoni M, Sokolowski A. The influence of prosthetic treatments and implant-supported prostheses on posterior mandibular ridge atrophy: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Oral Health. 2025;25:100. doi:10.1186/s12903-025-05467-8
  5. Oh WS, Saglik B, Bak SY. Bone loss in the posterior edentulous mandible with implant-supported overdentures vs complete dentures: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Prosthodont. 2020;33(2):184–191. doi:10.11607/ijp.5874
  6. Bajunaid SO, Alshahrani AS, Aldosari AA, et al. Patients’ satisfaction and oral health-related quality of life of edentulous patients using conventional complete dentures and implant-retained overdentures in Saudi Arabia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(1):557. doi:10.3390/ijerph19010557

Posted by jayplatt219 on Jul 2nd, 2025 1:06 pm
Filed under Blog, Dental Implants, Full Arch Dental Implants, Oral Health . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.