Full Arch or Dentures?
Once most or all of your teeth are gone, there are three realistic ways forward. This is how a conventional denture measures up against an implant clip-in denture and a fixed bridge for comfort, eating, your jawbone and cost.
Full-Arch Implants or Dentures: Which Should I Choose in Broughty Ferry?
If what you want is teeth that stay put and leave the roof of your mouth uncovered, full-arch implants are the better option; if you'd prefer to avoid an operation or keep the cost down, a denture still serves many people well. At our Broughty Ferry practice a full denture starts at £695, a denture that clips to implants starts at £8,500 a jaw, and fixed full-arch implants start at £9,300 an arch. At a free consultation, a CT scan shows which of these your mouth can support.
The Three Options, Briefly
A full denture is a removable plate carrying a set of teeth that rests on the gums, held there by suction and frequently a little adhesive. An implant-retained denture carries built-in clips which snap onto between two and four implants, holding it steady while still letting it come out. A full-arch bridge is a permanent row of teeth held by screws on four implants, or on up to six with our same-day pathways, and only the dentist can take it off.
There is no single right answer. A properly made denture can serve a person well for years, and if that's our honest advice, we'll give it. Before suggesting anything, our implant dentist weighs up your health, the bone available and what matters most to you.
How Each Feels in the Mouth
A standard upper denture sits across the roof of the mouth. That mutes the taste of food and the sensation of hot and cold, and for some people it triggers gagging. The lower denture is usually the greater grievance, since there's less gum for it to hold on to and the tongue keeps pushing it about.
A clip-in implant denture feels far steadier. There's still some plate and flange, but it won't lift when you laugh, and rubbing and sore spots are far less common.
A fixed bridge comes nearest to the feeling of having teeth of your own. In the upper jaw the palate is left uncovered, and nothing ever needs removing at night or refitting in the morning. Within a few weeks, most people report they've stopped noticing it.
Tired of a Denture That Moves?
Arrange a full-arch consultation in Broughty Ferry. We take the CT scan at the same visit.
Eating and Talking
People with a loose denture tend to adjust their diet without saying so. Apples are cut into pieces, steak gives way to mince, and a crusty roll is pulled apart. Conversation brings its own anxieties: a plate that clicks, or a denture slipping midway through a sentence.
Implants put an end to that. Once clipped in, an implant denture handles most ordinary food. A fixed bridge, after the healing months, lets you bite and chew in much the same way as you did with natural teeth. With any new teeth, your speech takes a little while to settle as the tongue adapts to the different shape.
What Happens to the Jawbone
This is the part that catches people out. Once teeth are lost, the bone that once anchored them gradually shrinks away, because nothing is stimulating it. A denture rests on the gum surface and does nothing to halt this, which is why a denture that fitted beautifully at first gradually works loose and needs relining or replacing.
Implants sit embedded in the bone and carry the forces of chewing down into it, and bone that's working tends to be preserved. That is what keeps a fixed bridge stable over many years. A clip-in denture holds its grip better than a conventional one, though the gum between the implants can still alter beneath it, so occasional adjustment is needed.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Conventional denture | Implant clip-in denture | Fixed full-arch bridge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Removable? | Yes | Yes, it unclips | Only by the dentist |
| Implants required | None | Typically 2 lower, 4 upper | 4 an arch, or 4 to 6 on same-day pathways |
| Roof of the mouth | Covered | Can be cut back | Uncovered |
| Chewing | Softer food is easier | Most ordinary food | Near-natural |
| Bone shrinkage | Continues | Slowed around implants | Slowed around implants |
| Surgery | None | Yes, but shorter | Yes, usually under sedation |
| Starting fee | £695 | £8,500 a jaw | £9,300 an arch |
| Ongoing upkeep | Relining, replacement | Clips renewed occasionally | Hygiene every 3 months |
Cleaning Each of Them
A full denture comes out to be rinsed after eating, brushed twice daily, and left out overnight by most people so the gums can rest. A clip-in denture gets the same care, with the addition of brushing the implant tops inside your mouth. Its nylon clips wear with use, and renewing them is a quick job at a routine visit.
With a fixed bridge, cleaning happens without it being removed, much as natural teeth are, using a brush and a water flosser beneath it. You see our hygienist every three months, four visits a year, for a clean around and beneath the bridge with the screws left untouched, and keeping those visits is a condition of the implant guarantee. The complete routine is set out in our guide to day-to-day life with a full arch.
What It Costs Now and Later
The cheapest starting point is a denture. A full acrylic denture starts at £695; an immediate denture, fitted on the day the teeth come out, is £495. As the years pass, though, the shrinking gum calls for relines at £110 and eventually a replacement, typically every five to ten years or so.
Clip-in implant dentures start at £8,500 a jaw, plus a CT scan at £160 where needed. Fixed full-arch / All-on-4 teeth are priced per arch by pathway: Healed Foundation £9,300, Staged Treatment £11,500, Same-Day Fixed Teeth £13,500 and Premium Guided Zirconia £14,950. Whichever one suits your mouth, its fee pays for the assessment, CBCT scan and digital records, 3D planning, the surgery and permanent bridge set out for that pathway, and reviews until you are finished, along with a 5-year guarantee for non-smokers who attend hygiene visits every 3 months. 1 Beyond that the pathways differ. Extractions and routine grafting where needed come with Staged, Same-Day and Premium; Staged gives you a removable temporary denture while you heal; Same-Day and Premium aim for fixed temporary teeth on the day, though that rests on your bone and how steady the implants prove once placed, so it is only confirmed during surgery, with the alternative set out in your written plan and no change to the pathway fee if it's needed; and Premium alone adds the custom surgical guide, with zirconia on a titanium bar included as standard (Healed Foundation patients can add zirconia for £2,500 an arch). On the two same-day routes the fee stays put whether you need four implants or six. Sedation is charged separately at £500 a session, and larger grafts or sinus work are quoted in writing.
The full-arch fee is broken down line by line in our All-on-4 cost guide.
Matching the Option to the Person
Implants are an option for most healthy adults, but several factors carry real weight:
- Diabetes must be under good control before any implant surgery
- Smoking delays healing and makes implant failure more likely
- The amount of bone available, measured exactly by our CT scan
- Whether three-monthly hygiene appointments are realistic for you
A full denture is the sensible choice if you'd rather not have surgery, if money is tight, or if a medical condition rules implants out. A clip-in implant denture is for people whose denture rocks or rubs and who want an affordable first move into implants. A fixed bridge is for those who want teeth that never come out, or whose remaining teeth keep breaking down. Where some of your own teeth can still be saved, that normally takes priority. People travel from Arbroath, Monifieth and across the Tay from Newport for the full-arch consultation, which settles the question properly.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.