What is cheaper...dentures or implants? What is the benefit or downside to each?

I need a lot of dental work. Many of my molars will require being extracted or root canals. I feel it would be less work, less pain, yet more expensive to just get dentures or implants. What is your advise? Can you give me price ranges for dentures or implants? If I need 3 or 4 root canals, wouldn't it be cheaper to just get dentures or implants?

What is cheaper...dentures or implants? What is the benefit or downside to each?
Cost wise, dentures are better and easier to accomplish. Get the flexible ones.
Reply:I'm in the same situation as you. I have had to get two teeth extracted, as well as a few root canals/crowns. The way it was explained to me, the cheapest route was a removable denture. Slightly more expensive is a "bridge" which attaches to teeth on either side of the gap. Then the most expensive is an implant which is attached directly to your jawbone and is just like a permanent tooth. Can't give you prices on those since they vary, but I can tell you it's much cheaper at a student dental center like I'm going to. I'm being treated by someone who just graduated and is a fully qualified dentist doing her one-year internship before moving on to her own practice. Much cheaper, still does excellent work. I think root canal + crown would be slightly more than an extraction + denture, but not quite as much as extraction + implant.
Reply:You may be able to get crowns and root canals on those back teeth, which are much cheaper and much better than the other options. I am in the process of getting 3 new crowns (lost 3 teeth in an accident years ago), and they are about $800 each. I had some mild pain for a few hours after the procedure, and none whatsoever during it. I have to wear temporary crowns for two weeks, and that's the extent of my inconvenience.





Implants are expensive; about $3500 per tooth, and $24,000-100,000 for an entire mouth.





Dentures may be an option, but keep in mind that they also require care and maintenance, and will make you look much older. With dentures, your gums and muscle tissue are not the way they were before, so you will get lines around your mouth, aging you. You will also have to endure quite a bit of time without any teeth before you get your dentures, and having every tooth in your head pulled is far from painless.





I have no idea why you think that implants or dentures would be less painful and less work? It would be MORE painful and MORE work than getting crowns, believe me.
Reply:Dental implants can cost around $4000 each, so it can be pricey, but well worth the investment seeing as you care for them extremely well. If they are not cleaned meticulously, their success rate falls drastically and are a complete waste. I would recommend implants over dentures simply because of quality of life. Dentures can be impractical and they don't offer the same comfort as implants. Dentures are a lot cheaper but need to be replaced around every 3 years.