What is a Locator Attachment?
Locator attachments are instrumental pieces in the placement of implant supported overdentures. Typically, the attachment itself is made of a softer composite, like a resin or plastic. The implant itself is made of a sturdy material, usually titanium. Together these Locator Implants help to anchor and support complete rows of prosthetic teeth, or overdentures.
What causes Tooth Loss?
Patients who have experienced substantial tooth loss, like an entire row of teeth, can usually trace back the damage to three main causes.
- Poor Hygiene: Poor dental hygiene is the number one culprit of tooth loss. If we are not fastidious about cleaning our teeth, it will lead to the accumulation of foodstuffs. These bits of organic material coalesce with bacteria and saliva and harden along teeths surface.This forms plaque and tartar, which becomes increasingly difficult to remove from the mouth. Bacteria festers and infects the gums, causing tissue damage and tissue loss.
- Dental and Gum Disease: While gum disease is not always necessarily a result of infection or poor hygiene, the two are inextricably linked. Gum disease takes many forms, but the end result is the same. Gums reced from tooth structures, and the underlying support systems within the tooth root degrade, leading to tooth loss.
- Trauma: Sometimes a horrible accident causes tooth loss. A hit to the face or mouth can physically damage the jaw or the teeth themselves. Your first priority should be recovery and recuperation. Then speak with your dental care team about replacement options.
Why should you replace missing teeth immediately?
Besides the trauma of dealing with missing teeth. Patients also enter a higher risk for depression and further tooth loss. Without healthy supportive teeth in the mouth, the gums and jaw lose stimulation–and those tissues become resorbed for use throughout the body. This is why implant supported options are so prominent, because they provide that support to the jawbones.
How do Locator Attachments help replace missing teeth?
Firstly a dentist decides whether your dental health places you as a candidate for implants. Take a recent x ray and a comprehensive examination, then be prepared to discuss your history of infection and disease with the doctor’s team.
Once this is all set, the dental care team will take a mold of your mouth, as it exists, without the teeth. This will help them create a prosthetic that can be used to replace your rows of teeth. Afterwards, they will insert an implant anchor, usually a titanium piece, into the jaw through your gums. This piece will spark stimulations within the osteoclasts, and as you use your new teeth it will prevent bone resorption. The locator attachment is attached to this implant, and provides a supportive anchor for the overdentures, that can easily be disengaged for quick removal.
Locator attachments provide a sturdy place to affix new prosthetic teeth. Dentures are more painful and annoying when they are mobile within the mouth–but they need to be removable regularly for easy cleaning. This is why implant supported dentures with locator attachments are such a wonderful and popular replacement option.