The most common request is not a fixed arch, it is a lower denture that stays put. Anchoring one onto two posts costs a fraction of a fixed bridge and addresses the complaint most people actually have.
In Saanich, between a denture and fixed dental implants
People price a fixed arch, find it out of reach, and conclude implants are not for them. That skips the two options in between, which cost far less and solve movement, the thing that actually makes a lower denture miserable to wear.
The simpler version anchors your existing plate onto posts, described on Implant Supported Dentures. The firmer version is a clip-in Implant Overdenture, still removable for cleaning.
Above both sits the fixed route on All-on-4 Implants, which never comes out.
Service area
What is assessed
Saanich dental implants, stage by stage
The denture you have
Sometimes it can be adapted onto posts rather than remade, which changes the figure considerably.
Ridge shape and height
Years of wear flatten the ridge. A scan shows what is left and which routes it will carry.
Remaining teeth
A few sound teeth may be worth keeping rather than clearing the arch by default.
What you want back
Eating hard food, losing the palate coverage, or simply stopping the movement. These point different ways.
Upper and lower
The two jaws take dental implants differently
A lower denture has little to grip and is the one that moves, which is why anchoring it produces the biggest single improvement in this whole field. An upper denture holds better by suction but covers the palate, so the reason for treating it is usually taste and comfort rather than movement.
Often yes, if it fits reasonably and is not worn out. Adapting an existing plate onto posts costs far less than a new one, so it is always worth having yours looked at before assuming a remake is needed.
Two is the usual minimum for anchoring a lower denture and makes a large difference. Four to six is typical for a fixed arch. The scan and the ridge decide, and more posts is not automatically better.
A fixed arch comes closest to natural teeth and handles most food. Anchored dentures are a substantial improvement on a plain plate without matching a fixed arch. Being told which one you are getting matters more than the label.
Not usually. Your existing denture is generally adapted to wear over the healing period, or a temporary is provided. Say if going without is unacceptable, because that shapes the plan from the start.
Rarely, though long term wear flattens the ridge and that narrows the options. A scan settles it. Even where a fixed arch is unrealistic, anchoring is frequently still possible and still worth doing.
Patients
What Saanich patients say
★★★★★4.9· 118 reviews on Google
★★★★★
Two posts and my own denture adapted. It stopped moving. That was all I ever wanted.
M. Duarte
Anchored lower, Saanich
★★★★★
Went the whole way. Being able to eat an apple again was the moment it felt worth it.
L. Ostrowski
Fixed arch, View Royal
★★★★★
Losing the palate coverage brought taste back. Nobody had told me that was even possible.
T. Adeyinka
Upper plate, Metchosin
★★★★★
They saved three teeth rather than clearing the lot. Cost me less and I still have them.
W. Lindqvist
Kept some teeth, Victoria
From the blog
Victoria implant guides: full arch cost, options and healing
Whether your existing plate can be anchored rather than remade is one of the biggest single factors in the cost, and it takes one appointment to find out.
