There are two national dental practices best known for advertising affordable dentures— Aspen Dental and the conveniently named practice, Affordable Dentures. Today we look at Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures to discuss the options available if you’re considering dentures.
Making the decision to get dentures is emotional. If you’re at the point when you’re considering dentures, there’s a whirlwind of emotions.
Trust me, I’ve seen it thousands of times. Losing your teeth and replacing an entire arch of teeth is overwhelming. There’s anxiety about what the new set will look like, feel like, and what the process will be like.
And you know what else?
Replacing an entire arch of teeth is expensive. If you’re thinking that. You’re not alone. Do you know what one of the most commonly Googled terms in dentistry is?
Hundreds of thousands of people are googling “affordable dentures” each month.
So if you’re feeling overwhelmed or down on yourself, don’t be. What you’re experiencing is common.
If you’re looking for affordable dentures, you’ve probably come across two options in your search. There are two national dental practices that pride themselves on an efficient and affordable denture experience.
One practice is Aspen Dental and another is called Affordable Dentures.
In this article, we’ll discuss what you need to know about dentures, what are the most comfortable dentures, what makes dentures affordable, and if you should consider Aspen Dental or Affordable Dentures.
And if you just want a quick reference for the full dentures available at Aspen Dental or Affordable Dentures, you can just scroll right to it. There are some convenient infographics about 2/3 down this article.
What You Need to Know About Dentures
Okay, first things, first.
Before we can dive into selecting a practice for an affordable denture, you need to understand what you’re getting into.
Afterall, dentures are one option. They’re not the only option. So let’s discuss a little bit to make sure dentures are right for you.
What are Dentures? The Short and Sweet Answer
Put simply, dentures are a removable appliance. The appliance is designed to replace missing teeth.
A denture can replace as few as one tooth to as many as an entire arch.
When a denture replaces some teeth in an arch, it is called a “partial denture.” Essentially a partial denture is recommended when there are some teeth that are savable.
And when a denture replaces all the teeth in an arch, it is called a “complete denture.”
Why Should We Fix Bad Teeth?
There are two reasons why people consider a denture.
Either they have unhealthy teeth that cannot be saved. Or they already have a denture but it isn’t fitting well.
Either way, if you’re considering a solution, you’re doing the right thing. Here’s why.
First, let’s talk about a patient that needs to have bad teeth extracted. You’re probably wondering, what’s another year? Why don’t I just wait to have them extracted?
Well of course you can wait if you don’t have the means. But you must know that’s a bit of a gamble.
Teeth that have severe decay create a constant threat of infection. It is unsettling when you’re on a vacation or a trip, and your teeth flare-up. Wouldn’t it be better to position yourself for peace of mind?
And what about more severe health consequences?
Yes, unfortunately, there are some severe risks that people take on when they wait too long to address bad teeth.
Recent studies show some pretty alarming links to periodontal disease. We knew 10 years ago that gum disease was linked to cardiovascular disease. The health community was bewildered when studies started showing that gum disease significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
But now, what we know is that it’s even worse. The latest studies are showing that people with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and dementia often have a history of periodontal disease.
So why should you be motivated to address known oral health concerns? To prevent much more serious overall health effects later.
If you’re able to address your oral health concerns with a more complex option like dental implants, that’s great. But if you don’t have the means, studies show you shouldn’t wait excessively long. People may benefit by removing unsavable teeth now, getting an affordable denture, and rebuilding with implants later if needed.
Should I Even Bother Replacing my Teeth with Affordable Dentures?
If you need some or all of your teeth out, it may cross your mind whether you should even replace them.
Let’s talk about that.
Did you know that every wild animal on the planet cannot survive without teeth? But there’s one exception.
Humans.
That’s right. Humans are the only species that can adapt and actually survive without teeth. From squirrels all the way up to lions, if an animal loses all it’s teeth in the wild. Do you think it survives? Nope.
But just because humans have access to blenders, and forks & knives to cut up their food, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good idea to not replace teeth.
Studies show that missing teeth increases the risk of stomach issues such as irritable bowel syndrome. And they even show that Edentulism can lead directly to impairment, functional limitation, physical, psychological, and social disability, and handicap.
But that’s not all. Patients missing as little as even one tooth can be at higher risk for temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). By not replacing a missing tooth, it opens the door to a domino effect. The teeth are able to shift in ways that change the way the jaw opens and closes. That change can create symptoms such as a headaches, muscle pain, neck pain, ear pain, and jaw soreness.
All that potentially from one tooth? It sounds crazy, but it’s what we now know.
So here’s the bottom line. Missing teeth is not just about the mouth. It affects the way we eat, the way we speak, and the way we feel about ourselves. It may not be obvious, but studies show it does.
Why I’m Writing about Affordable Dentures
If you’ve read my other articles, you know I’m a reconstructive and sedation dentist. I see some of the most complex cases in the country. And although that’s great for some patients, what I’ve come to understand is that every patient has different goals.
For some patients, they’re suffering. They’re in pain. And many of their teeth are bothering them. Their priority is “now.”
Many of these patients are simply “done” with their teeth. They may not want to invest in a complex reconstruction to set back the clock of their teeth to prior function.
For these patients they’re seeking health but are also prioritizing affordability as well. What do I often recommend for patients that are seeking to replace an entire arch of teeth?
Usually, a denture is the most affordable treatment.
And although my practice is skilled at denture services, there are other practices that may provide more simple, efficient, and affordable dentures throughout the country, and some patients may not have the means to fly to my practice in Boston.
Enter why I often recommend Aspen Dental or Affordable Dentures as a recommendation to patients seeking affordable dentures.
Let’s talk about why.
Let’s Talk About What You Can Expect With Dentures
Before we get into comparing the specifics of Aspen Dental compared to Affordable Dentures, there are a few things I need to get you up to speed on. Let’s talk about what you should know about the process of dentures, what they are like, and what you can expect.
The Process
Here’s the deal with dentures. It’s best to break the process down into two categories: 1) Patients who are getting dentures for the first time, and 2) people who already have a denture and are replacing it.
The denture process will be different depending on the category you fall in.
Let’s talk about someone who is getting dentures for the first time.
In this case there are teeth that are not savable. Those teeth will need to be extracted first before the denture.
Now I know what your thinking. It’s your biggest fear to go without teeth right?
Well, fortunately, you don’t have to. The process of getting a denture is designed so that when your teeth are extracted the denture is ready to go in the same day. The way that works is your dentist takes impressions and begins making your denture before your teeth are extracted.
Because there are teeth that will be extracted, the dentist estimates where the gums will heal and a denture is created to fit immediately after the teeth are extracted. We call this an immediate denture—more on that later.
But essentially, a denture is designed before the teeth are extracted. The teeth come out, and the denture goes in.
If you have a denture already and are looking to replace it. The process is a little more straight forward.
Your dentist takes impressions and then can proceed by making a denture similar to your current one, can use it as a guide to improve upon it, or can make a completely different design of denture.
Immediate dentures
Let’s take a step back to talk about immediate dentures a little more. So when you need teeth out your dentist makes you a temporary set of dentures. You start wearing these new dentures the day of the extractions.
The immediate dentures serve two purposes. They serve as a bandaid to protect the areas that are healing, and they allow the patient to chew and function while they are healing.
Now it’s important to remember the immediate dentures are intended to be temporary. They are temporary because there is a lot of healing that occurs after they are made. As the gums and bone heal, the fit will change.
The fit will also be quite loose immediately after the extraction visit as the gums swell underneath.
But here’s what you need to know about the fit of immediate dentures.
Immediate dentures are relined as your gums heal. Let’s talk about that.
Denture Relines
So as your gums heal, your dentist will reline the immediate dentures to improve the fit. Each time the denture is relined, there will be gradual healing and it will eventually loosen up again. It typically will require a reline about 2 to 3 times during the first 6 months after extractions. At about 6 months after your extractions, the gums are stable. And your denture fit will not continue to change.
So here’s what happens next.
The dentist prepares for a permanent denture.
Permanent Dentures
Here’s what you need to know about permanent dentures
If there is only a few teeth extracted like 2-5 teeth, you usually can use the immediate dentures as a permanent. The dentist can take an impression using your denture and convert the inside of it to fit closely to your gums after healing. We call this a conversion of an immediate denture to permanent denture.
But what if you had a lot of teeth extracted?
When there are a lot of teeth extracted, there will be so much change after the healing that the denture doesn’t line up as ideal, even if it’s relined. So for patients that need a lot of teeth extracted, its customary to plan for them to have an immediate denture that serves only as a temporary. Then after 6 months of healing an entirely new second set is custom designed on the healed gums.
So a patient that needs numerous extractions, essentially will have a package of two dentures. One used for 6 months as the gums heal, and a second that is their permanent denture created after healing finalizes.
By making a second set of dentures, it allows for the ideal customization of the cosmetics, bite, and fit of the new denture.
What Dentures are like to wear
So if you’re considering denture, you must know what they are like to wear. First, lets talk about the positives.
A Beautiful Smile
If you get a set of full dentures, the cosmetics of them can be stunning. If you had worn, broken, and decayed teeth, your new set of dentures can look like a Hollywood smile compared to the old teeth. That type of improvement can have huge benefits of peoples confidence, self esteem, and overall success.
But you must also know that wearing a denture does come with some compromises.
The Fit
Going from natural teeth to a denture takes some getting used to. For one, the teeth are removable. And when you’re used to having your teeth secured into place your whole life, the removeable aspect of a denture will take some getting used to.
Usually people adapt and feel more comfortable after a few months. But for the first few weeks or months, you may feel self-conscious that your teeth will drop down when your speaking, laughing, or chewing. That’s normal and will improve. Still there is always a chance that your teeth could loosen up. So that is a risk you will have to be okay with before deciding on denture. After all the teeth are designed to be removeable.
Taste
Unless you’re getting a full denture that is secured by implants, the denture has to cover the palate to hold securely. The downside of that is that the palate is important for the sense of taste. When the palate is covered, there is somewhat of a decrease in taste. However, studies do support that the taste does adjust over time.
Digestive issues
Because natural teeth are anchored in the bone and a denture rests on top of the gums, there is a difference in the amount of chewing ability. Natural teeth can produce more bite force than a denture—about 5x as much to be specific.
So what does that mean?
It means that denture wearers need to be more careful about chewing their food up fully. Because a denture produces less force per chew stroke, it makes denture wears more susceptible to digestive pain such as irritable bowel syndrome presumably because they are more likely to swallow their food more whole.
Denture Sore Spots & Adjustments
As with anything, there is some maintenance and fine-tuning required when getting a denture—particularly in the first few weeks or months. Because dentures secure by a suction over the gums, there needs to be enough suction to hold the denture, but not enough to irritate the gums.
During the first few weeks of wearing a denture, your dentist will fine-tune the fit. Often there will be areas under the denture that are irritated. We call these areas sore spots.
You should expect to have a few follow-ups in the first few weeks of wearing a new denture to fine tune and adjust any sore spots as the new denture settles in. The process is the same for immediate dentures as it is for permanent dentures. Both will have some sore spots that require adjustment as the denture settles.
Which is Practice is Better Aspen Dental or Affordable Dentures
Efficiency
The big factor of why I like the model of either Aspen Dental or Affordable Dentures specifically for dentures across the country is their business model.
Both have an efficient business model.
What you will find is that these two brands of practices produce a lot of dentures. Therefore they have optimized the process.
The big factor in their business models that stand out is that they both have in-house dental labs specializing in dentures. Because they have staff in-house, it helps for three reasons. It allows faster production time, easy communication between the lab and dentist, and reduced cost.
The reason is because having an in-house lab cuts out shipping costs and the middleman of a third-party lab. Thus, it increases efficiency and cuts costs.
If these factors are important to you, both Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures both are equally geared for efficiency.
Quality
When you talk about quality in healthcare its often difficult to replicate consistently across a practice brand. So here’s how I encourage you to look at it.
If you look at dental work in terms of the materials only, both Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures both will be comparable for quality. You’ll find that both practices offer several grades of dentures. The more expensive the grade, the higher the quality. Simple right? And both practices have grades of dentures that are pretty similar at the same price point. More on that later.
But here’s where quality of each of the brands can differ from one another, and even within the same brand.
The experience.
Although each practice is following similar business models, there’s different doctors and staff at each location—each with their own unique personality and chairside manner.
Although both practices appear to be following a rigorous hiring process to qualify the credentials of their dentists and staff, you simply may gel better with one team compared to another based on your personality.
So my best advice is to call the office and get a sense of the tone of the staff. If you feel comfortable, schedule a visit and try them out.
Both Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures generally run promotions for free dental exams and x-rays for your first visit. So that makes it easy to try them out.
Options
Both Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures have created a “menu” of dentures which presents various grades of dentures available based on your goals for balancing quality vs affordability. Rather than me blabbing on, I’ll present both options in infographic tables to give you a sense of what’s available at each practice.
Aspen Dental Complete Dentures
Affordable Dentures Complete Dentures
Cost
As you can see, there’s a lot of similarities between Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures. And the same goes for cost.
Both practices generally start in the range of around $400 for a basic denture and both approach approximately $2000 per arch for a top of the line denture including an immediate denture during healing.
Now, as you probably know, I hate giving ranges for costs. But since the fees of these practices vary depending on the part of your country you’re in, this is the best I can do here.
What I can tell you is that both Aspen Dental and Affordable Dentures accept a wide range of dental insurances and also offer third party financing options to help spread your payment over time.
For more detailed information on cost, call the Aspen Dental location or Affordable Denture location near you.
Some information is also on their websites which you can visit here for Aspen Dental and here for Affordable Dentures.
Some More Things You Should Know About Dentures
How To Clean Your Dentures
So you invested in new dentures, but how do you get the most out of them? There is some daily maintenance. However, it is actually quite easy. That’s one of the benefits of wearing dentures.
To keep your dentures clean, brush the dentures every day with a soft-bristled toothbrush using dish soap and water. And yes, this can be done outside your mouth which helps to clean thoroughly in the nooks and crannies.
You should also be mindful to keep your gums clean. Brush your gums and tongue every day with an extra-soft toothbrush. Have a separate toothbrush from the one you use for cleaning your dentures.
I recommend not to use toothpaste to clean dentures since it can be abrasive over time. However, periodically you can use a denture cleaner to soak the dentures. A denture cleaner helps to remove any odors or scents that linger on the denture.
Oh and what about at night. Should you wear your dentures to sleep?
It’s recommended to take your dentures out at night. This gives the gum tissues underneath a chance to “breathe” and also helps to reduce wear of the dentures during nighttime grinding.
And finally, if you have a furry friend be careful to always store your denture in it’s protective case, ideally off of the countertop. Cats and dogs love to chew up dentures. To them it tastes like every meal you can think of. So beware. Your pets will have an odd interest in borrowing your dentures to use as a chew toy.
What’s the Long Term Maintenance With Dentures?
Patients who have partial dentures should have dental checkups every 6 months and patients with full dentures should have dental checkups every year.
Over time the bone of the jaw begins to change. To be specific, it slowly recedes over time. Therefore the denture will become loose over time–over a period of 5 to 10 years.
But if your denture becomes loose, its not a lost cause. The denture can be refitted by a process called a denture reline. A new impression is taken with your denture and the dentist can refit it so that it fits more snug.
A denture reline is often needed every 3-5 years.
New dentures should may be considered every 5-15 years depending on wear.
What You Need, May Not Be What You Think
Many people often believe their teeth are much worse than they are. And after reading 3500 word article about dentures, it can make you believe that’s your only option.
But dentures are not your only option.
There are other options available to replace teeth such as implants, bridges, etc. Some of these other treatments may be a better option after you review the pros and cons.
And what about if your teeth are saveable? You may be thinking that your teeth need to be extracted when they may be saved.
If you go in for a consult at Aspen Dental, Affordable Dentures, or any other practice they will review all your potential options. Maybe a denture is the best option for you, and maybe it isn’t. Either way, these practices will be able to provide comprehensive dental treatment options including all types of general dentistry treatment. Whatever you need and whichever option works best for you should be available.
Aspen Dental versus Affordable Dentures: Which One Should You Choose?
So there you have it, everything to know about finding affordable dentures at either Aspen Dental or Affordable Dentures.
If you’re in need specifically of dentures, you really can’t go wrong with either option in terms of affordability, efficiency, and consistency across the country.
But the big component is you. If you’re considering dentures, do all you can to set the proper expectations. Learn about the pros and cons of dentures, and learn about all the options available.
And remember, affordability is important, but never settle for an affordable denture if its not what’s best for you.
