Palateless Dentures

July 6 2023

• Hate your acrylic denture that has a pink palate and covers your gums?
• Feel unnatural to have the palate covered and find it difficult to tolerate?
• Is your ability to taste and experience food hindered?
• Tired of the limited function and quality of life of your dentures?

As missing teeth dentists, we understand the pain of traditional dentures.

Lack of options

Unfortunately, some patients might not have had a choice when receiving upper dentures as it was recommended to provide enough support and retention, especially if you’re a patient who consequently suffering from bone depletion.

What’s possible and what’s not

✅ If the bone is good on both sides of the mouth, sometimes covering the palate can be avoided.

❌ Leaving the palate uncovered and using fixative for support will only work in certain missing teeth scenarios.

The above options are rarely advised or undertaken as they only work for a limited percentage of patients. So, what can we do instead?

What our prosthetic dentist recommends

We can suggest modern, advanced (and sometimes complex) procedures to boost your comfort and return your taste sensation.

At our practice, we can avoid the need to cover the upper palate with innovative missing teeth procedures like:

1. Dental implants
2. Implant-retained overdentures (removable)
3. Fixed implant dentures

These treatments are particularly advisable for patients who find it difficult to adjust to upper dentures or have a sensitive gag reflex.

Alternatives to covering the palate without implants

What are your options without using dental implants?

1. Cobalt-chrome dentures – work in cases where a few remaining teeth are left, which can be used to retain a horse-shoe-shaped denture that leaves the palate uncovered.

Sadly, cobalt-chrome dentures are your only tooth replacement option without the use of dental implants.

Are you avoiding dental implants because you’ve been told no in the past? Or you don’t have enough bone to withstand them? Today’s dentistry is different. We have solutions for patients lacking bone and can use certain methods to place implants without it.

Get a second opinion now.

What are implant-retained dentures?

Denture wearers usually have no upper teeth, meaning Cobalt-chrome dentures are impossible. Without dental implants, patients can only rely on suction and dental adhesives to keep their dentures in place.

Enter implant-retained dentures, which is a more affordable procedure to replace a full arch of missing teeth using removable dentures that snap onto two or three implants per jaw.

The benefits:

• Replaces a full mouth of missing teeth
• Removable and can last forever

The limitations:

• Requires a sufficient amount of bone
• Limited chewing abilities
• Bar-retained overdenture

What’s an even better solution?

You’re in luck if you haven’t heard about the revolutionary, All-on-4 procedure. All-on-4 uses four implants to secure a hybrid denture for a lifetime.

The benefits:

• Replaces a full jaw of missing teeth
• No need for bone – graftless solution
• Restores chewing ability
• Non-removable and fixed
• Does not rely on suction
• Leaves the palate exposed  (no slippage or sores)
• Feels more like natural teeth would
• No metal bar!

All-on-4 vs dentures

The cost to replace missing teeth (all your options)