Changing a removable conus overdenture to a fixed implant supported prosthesis

Changing a removable Conus overdenture to fixed teeth is something we can do. Most people prefer teeth that are fixed solid into place over teeth that they can remove. Even if the teeth are secure in place as with an Atlantis conus implant overdenture, fixed is often preferable. There are some situations that call for an overdenture but we feel almost all situations can have successful treatment with teeth that stay in all the time. Many of these can be seen on our implant bridge or denture page.

Case of the week – Removable Conus overdenture conversion to implant prosthesis where the teeth stay in place.

Lucille was unhappy with her recent Conus overdenture. Having to remove something is not a concern for her. She was unhappy with the appearance of the prosthesis. Together we both feel her original overdenture was too far forward and was unesthetic.

The upper photos are of the original conus removable overdenture that Lucille did not like. The final is our all on 4 zirconia prosthesis.

What is a Conus overdenture?

Conus is a concept name from the Atlantis brand under Dentsply. This is a telescopic overdenture concept but the definition of telescope depends on who you ask and in what country you are. Without question the concept is far more common in Germany than other countries. Conus uses a 5 degree abutment and borrows from the all on 4 concepts for dental implant placement. Below is a very classic Conus overdenture case with 4 abutments for the overdenture to attach to. The patient can remove the prosthesis to clean it, but it is typically very secure. The advantages are that it is easily cleansable by the patient.

Process of converting a removable Conus overdenture to a prosthesis that stays in.

Fortunately for the patient there is no point that we ever need to get them numb for this process. There are multiple visits. Typically 4 to 5 visits IF everything goes perfectly. Often there are bite or esthetic changes that we run into and thus the total visits are more like 5 to 7. Each visit has 3 or more weeks between them so you can do the math and see this is a fairly long process. There are times when we will have the patient wear a PMMA temp. This allows lab, patient, and doctor to evaluate things before going to the final material. PMMA is possibly strong enough to act as a final material for some patients but we consider it a temporary. There are other stronger polymers in the PMMA family that are final.

What is the cost of this conversion?

We charge around $20,000 for this conversion. There is some variance depending on what kind of teeth or frame you choose. We don’t offer cheaper denture teeth but you can get that done in some places and it will save you some money.