Full-Arch or Dentures?
A conventional denture, a denture that clips onto implants, or a fixed bridge on implants: how each feels day to day, what each does to your jawbone and what each costs over the years.
Is It Better to Have Full-Arch Implants or Dentures?
Fixed full-arch implants stay in, leave the roof of the mouth uncovered and help stop the jawbone shrinking, but they need surgery and cost more. A conventional denture is the least expensive and needs no surgery, though it can slip and does nothing to slow bone loss. There is also a halfway house: a denture that clicks onto two or four implants, steady in use but removable for cleaning. Fees at Peninsula Dentists on Greenwich Peninsula are £600 for an immediate denture, from £8,500 a jaw for a clip-in implant denture and from £9,300 an arch for fixed teeth, CT scan included.
The Quick Verdict
A denture is cheaper and avoids surgery. Full-arch implants are fixed, feel far more like natural teeth and help protect the jawbone, at a higher cost and with an operation. There is also a halfway house: a denture that clicks onto two or four implants, steady in use but removable for cleaning.
Your medical history, the bone you have, what you want to spend and what matters to you daily all feed into the choice. No single option suits everybody. At your consultation Dr Riaz will say which he would recommend and why, and that includes telling you when a denture is the sensible answer.
How Each Option Works
A conventional full denture sits on the gums. Suction, the contours of your mouth and often a fixative hold it in place, and an upper denture covers the palate.
With an implant-retained denture, small clips are built into a brand-new denture. They engage two lower implants or four upper ones, so the denture no longer slides about or needs fixative, though it still comes out for cleaning. Because the clips must line up exactly with the implants, we make a new denture every time rather than adapting your old one.
A full-arch bridge is a complete row of 10 to 12 teeth screwed onto four implants, or on two of our pathways up to six, with a gum-coloured base that replaces gum and bone that have shrunk away. It is never taken out at home; only your dentist can remove it, and an upper bridge leaves the palate uncovered.
Tired of a Denture That Moves?
Book a free full-arch consultation. The CT scan is taken here on Greenwich Peninsula, on our own scanner.
Eating and Speaking
A denture can shift as you chew or talk, and many wearers give up on apples, crusty bread or steak. A fixed bridge does not move, so biting and chewing feel much closer to natural teeth. A clip-in implant denture falls in the middle: it moves a touch, but because it no longer rubs on the gum, sore spots become rare.
Whichever you have, your speech takes a few weeks to adjust while the tongue learns the new shape. Because a full-arch bridge leaves the palate open, many people find talking and tasting feel more normal with it.
Cleaning and Daily Care
A full denture is taken out to clean, and most people leave it out overnight to give the gums a break. The clip-in version is cleaned in your hand in the same way, morning and night, and you brush the implants and gum as well. Its small clips wear with use and are swapped at a routine appointment.
A full-arch bridge is cleaned where it sits, like natural teeth: brush twice a day, and clean under and around the implants daily with a water flosser or interdental brushes. Hygiene visits every three months with our hygienist, Stefanie Goodall, keep the gum around the implants healthy. She cleans under the bridge with it still screwed in place, and our implant guarantee depends on you attending them. Whatever you choose, regular hygiene and dental examinations protect the gums and any implants. Our guide to life with full-arch implants covers the day-to-day detail.
What Happens to the Jawbone
Once a tooth is lost, the bone that held it slowly shrinks away. A denture rests on the gum above that bone and does nothing to stop the process, which is why dentures gradually loosen and need relining or remaking.
Implants sit inside the bone and pass chewing forces into it, and that helps maintain the bone around them. This is why fixed bridges stay steady for many years, and why clip-in dentures hold their fit longer than ones that rely on the gum alone. Under a clip-in denture, the gum between the implants does still change over time.
The Three Options in One Table
| Feature | Standard denture | Clip-in implant denture | Fixed full-arch bridge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comes out? | Yes | Yes, for cleaning | No; only your dentist removes it |
| Implants | None | Two lower, four upper | Four per arch, or four to six by pathway |
| Palate (upper) | Covered | Depends on the design | Uncovered |
| Eating | May move; harder foods often avoided | Secure, slight movement | Close to natural teeth |
| Jawbone | Keeps shrinking | Helped at the implants | Helped at the implants |
| Surgery | None | Yes, with sedation if you wish | Yes, usually with IV sedation |
| Cleaning | In your hand | In your hand, and around the implants | In place, with hygiene every three months |
| Upfront cost | Lowest: £600 for an immediate acrylic denture | From £8,500 a jaw | From £9,300 an arch2 |
| 12 months at 0% | Below the finance minimum | £709 a month | £775 a month4 |
| Ongoing care | Relines and replacements | Clips renewed at routine visits | Three-monthly hygiene, a condition of the guarantee |
Cost Over Time
A denture is the cheapest to start with. An immediate acrylic denture, fitted the day your teeth come out, costs £600; prices for other dentures are on our fees page. Because the jaw keeps changing, most dentures need relining and, every five to ten years or so, replacing.
Clip-in implant dentures start at £8,500 per jaw, with a CT scan at £120 where one is needed. Fixed full-arch teeth come through four pathways, each priced per arch. If you already wear a full denture and your gums have healed, Healed Foundation is £9,300, with zirconia teeth on a titanium bar available for £2,500 more. Staged Treatment, where failing teeth come out and the gums heal before the implants, is £11,500. Same-Day Fixed Teeth costs £13,500, and Premium Guided Zirconia, which adds a custom surgical guide and zirconia on titanium, is £14,950. Every pathway covers:
- the consultation, CT scan and digital records, 3D planning and a written plan
- the surgery your pathway involves, including extractions and routine grafting where it lists them
- the implants, and the final bridge your pathway specifies
- reviews until your treatment is complete
- a five-year guarantee for non-smokers who keep up three-monthly hygiene visits2
Same-Day and Premium are the pathways with fixed temporary teeth on surgery day, where the bone allows.1 IV sedation with Dr Imran Riaz is £500 a session, and more extensive bone augmentation, sinus procedures and long-term maintenance are quoted separately. Afterwards you budget for regular hygiene, and after many years the bridge may need renewing. Over 12 months at 0% with Chrysalis Finance, a Healed Foundation arch is £775 a month.4 For comparison, practices around Greenwich and SE London we checked in October 2026 list fixed full-arch teeth from about £9,000 to £14,000 per arch.
Which Option Suits Whom?
Good general health is the main requirement, and most adults qualify. Before recommending anything we look at:
- medical conditions such as diabetes, and how well they are managed
- whether you smoke, since it delays healing and makes implant failure more likely
- how much bone there is, from your CT scan
- your ability to keep up hygiene appointments
A conventional denture makes sense if you would rather avoid surgery, your budget is tight, or your health rules implants out. A clip-in implant denture fits if your current denture slips, rubs or relies on fixative and you want a more affordable route to implants that still comes out. Fixed full-arch teeth are the answer if you never want to remove them, several failing teeth need to go, or crowns and bridges keep breaking down. Where some of your own teeth can be saved, that is usually the better path. Your consultation and CT scan show plainly which options will work.
Questions
This guide explains the options in general terms. Only an examination can tell you which of them suits your own teeth.