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My mom is in a really bad situation. I know it's usually best to avoid chain dental offices but she needs dentures and does not have the $$ for if in a private office. Affordable Dentures treatment plan is by far the cheapest (even when you factor in all the crap they add in) but I'm concerned. They have so many bad reviews online. I'm trying to keep in mind that most corporate chain type places have just as many (even stores like Best Buy), but it's scary when it's someone's health.
I wish I was in a position to help her more but due to an accident my husband got into we just can't right now. Has anyone here used them? They're recommending "mini implants" at some point to stabilize the denture but I can't find much info on how those will hold up in the long term.
My mom is in a really bad situation. I know it's usually best to avoid chain dental offices but she needs dentures and does not have the $$ for if in a private office. Affordable Dentures treatment plan is by far the cheapest (even when you factor in all the crap they add in) but I'm concerned. They have so many bad reviews online. I'm trying to keep in mind that most corporate chain type places have just as many (even stores like Best Buy), but it's scary when it's someone's health.
I wish I was in a position to help her more but due to an accident my husband got into we just can't right now. Has anyone here used them? They're recommending "mini implants" at some point to stabilize the denture but I can't find much info on how those will hold up in the long term.
Any info appreciated!
In 2010 got complete dentures at a dental clinic in Arkansas when I was living in Minnesota.
The cheapest clinic in Minnesota wanted $8900
University Of Minnesota Dental School quoted me $8900
I had complete extractions involving lots of cutting and stitching plus 2 wisdom teeth removed.
Top of the line dentures..............no implants.
Mine work great w/o
My dentures look great and feel great.
Total cost.............$3580
7 years ago and well satisfied !
I have recommended that to many other people including a friend who won a $2 million lottery.
They also do any other dental procedure...........root canal, crowns, implants at a fraction of the cost of many " gougers".
Don't let posters here sway you by stating........." you only get what you pay for"
The posters have to justify their price gouging any way they can.
( also, the 3 dentists at that clinic earn their money by doing dental work continuously during clinic hours. No wasting time posting on internet sites during clinic hours )
Last edited by David A Stone; 07-21-2017 at 04:44 PM..
Don't let posters here sway you by stating........." you only get what you pay for"
The posters have to justify their price gouging any way they can.
( also, the 3 dentists at that clinic earn their money by doing dental work continuously during clinic hours. No wasting time posting on internet sites during clinic hours )
Off topic, but you are starting to sound like a broken record. Do you ever stop?
My mom is in a really bad situation. I know it's usually best to avoid chain dental offices but she needs dentures and does not have the $$ for if in a private office. Affordable Dentures treatment plan is by far the cheapest (even when you factor in all the crap they add in) but I'm concerned. They have so many bad reviews online. I'm trying to keep in mind that most corporate chain type places have just as many (even stores like Best Buy), but it's scary when it's someone's health.
I wish I was in a position to help her more but due to an accident my husband got into we just can't right now. Has anyone here used them? They're recommending "mini implants" at some point to stabilize the denture but I can't find much info on how those will hold up in the long term.
Maybe you could try some dentists that aren't part of a corporation? All dentists have some sort of financing usually through care credit or something similar, and most independent dentists won't sell her services she doesn't need. You might try Yelp reviews for your area and find dentists that get good reviews, but sort the reviews by lowest to highest, for some reason negative reviews on Yelp tend to end up being the last ones you read otherwise.
Maybe you could try some dentists that aren't part of a corporation? All dentists have some sort of financing usually through care credit or something similar, and most independent dentists won't sell her services she doesn't need. You might try Yelp reviews for your area and find dentists that get good reviews, but sort the reviews by lowest to highest, for some reason negative reviews on Yelp tend to end up being the last ones you read otherwise.
Thank you! I will try looking into some more private offices for her. Have you heard of Affordable Dentures?
Thank you! I will try looking into some more private offices for her. Have you heard of Affordable Dentures?
Not until you mentioned it, but I looked it up & it is corporate owned. I looked in my area and there are 3 Affordable Dental Offices, two get crappy reviews with complaints about the teeth falling out of the denture, ill fitting dentures, and little interest on the part of the dentist in addressing these issues, the third one got remarkably good reviews. So I would check Yelp locally and see how the reviews are.
I don't have dentures so I can't really tell you what to look for, or what questions to ask, but there are 2 or 3 dentists who follow these threads and hopefully they can give you some advice.
By any chance is your mom eligible for medicaid? (If she's on medicare and low income there's still a chance she is eligible for medicaid) Probably half to two thirds of the states provide some free dental care to medicaid patients and full dentures are usually covered.
Dentures are a tricky beast. No matter what a dentist tells you, they are not a replacement for teeth - they are a replacement for NOT HAVING teeth. Dentures are big pieces of plastic in your mouth that we are trying to pass off as teeth. Many private practice offices have stopped doing them because they are time-consuming, require multiple visits, carry high overhead, and patients are usually not satisfied with them.
In terms of whether or not to get them from a cheap denture mill or private office, that's also difficult to answer. While you will generally receive a higher level of care at a private (not corporate) office, it ultimately comes down to the patient's response to dentures. I have seen beautiful dentures made by a prosthodontist with a near perfect fit that I would be proud of, yet the patient hated them, and I have seen ugly, crappy dentures from a corporate mill rocking around the mouth yet the patient loved it. The classic scenario that many dentists experience is a new patient who comes in with a bag full of dentures because they can't get comfortable with a set, regardless of who makes it. Some people simply can't tolerate dentures, and unfortunately there is no surefire way to predict that until the denture is already made and money already spent. There are people in this forum who have dentures made at a denture chain and absolutely love them. This is wonderful for them. In my experience, those patients are the exception, not the norm. Again, this is not to say that just because a corporate chain makes the denture that it will be crappy, or that if a private practice dentist makes it then it will be wonderful. A lot of what goes into a successful denture will ultimately come down to the invidual patient and their body.
In regards to mini implants, they are generally used to help keep a lower denture from falling out due to lack of bone in the patient's jaw. I am not a fan of them when compared to traditional implants used for the same purpose, but they have their place. If your dentist is suggesting the use of implants, then it is possible that they already sense your mother will probably struggle with a traditional denture.
Dentures are a tricky beast. No matter what a dentist tells you, they are not a replacement for teeth - they are a replacement for NOT HAVING teeth. Dentures are big pieces of plastic in your mouth that we are trying to pass off as teeth. Many private practice offices have stopped doing them because they are time-consuming, require multiple visits, carry high overhead, and patients are usually not satisfied with them.
In terms of whether or not to get them from a cheap denture mill or private office, that's also difficult to answer. While you will generally receive a higher level of care at a private (not corporate) office, it ultimately comes down to the patient's response to dentures. I have seen beautiful dentures made by a prosthodontist with a near perfect fit that I would be proud of, yet the patient hated them, and I have seen ugly, crappy dentures from a corporate mill rocking around the mouth yet the patient loved it. The classic scenario that many dentists experience is a new patient who comes in with a bag full of dentures because they can't get comfortable with a set, regardless of who makes it. Some people simply can't tolerate dentures, and unfortunately there is no surefire way to predict that until the denture is already made and money already spent. There are people in this forum who have dentures made at a denture chain and absolutely love them. This is wonderful for them. In my experience, those patients are the exception, not the norm. Again, this is not to say that just because a corporate chain makes the denture that it will be crappy, or that if a private practice dentist makes it then it will be wonderful. A lot of what goes into a successful denture will ultimately come down to the invidual patient and their body.
In regards to mini implants, they are generally used to help keep a lower denture from falling out due to lack of bone in the patient's jaw. I am not a fan of them when compared to traditional implants used for the same purpose, but they have their place. If your dentist is suggesting the use of implants, then it is possible that they already sense your mother will probably struggle with a traditional denture.
Good informative post !
However , paragraph 1.......everything you stated about dentures could be said about implants.
Implants are a..........."replacement for NOT HAVING TEETH "......also.
I guess I could say my 2 metal hip replacements are not a replacement of having hips but a replacement for NOT HAVING HIPS AT ALL.
Yet,I can do everything with my dentures and with my artificial hips that I did before with no pain from either my dentures or artificial hips.
Implants are a replacement for teeth. The peer-reviewed research shows that dental implants restore 90% of chewing efficiency, while dentures replace 10% at best. Artificial hips are not an appropriate comparison because of biomechanics, different body systems, and because it's a joint requiring articulation/movement. Just because one person is happy with their dentures, it doesn't discount the fact that most people are not. While there are exceptions to the norms such as David A Stone who loves his dentures and therefore believes that everyone else should love them, most people do not.
I'm still waiting for the answer to my question in other posts....why are there so many patients with dentures requesting implants, but ZERO patients with implants requesting dentures?
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