My problem is my upper denture. Can you still help?

Honestly, the upper jaw is the harder case for this treatment. The bone up there is softer, so minis hold less reliably than they do on the bottom. Sometimes the answer is more posts, sometimes a different treatment altogether, and we tell you which at the consult.

Does it actually last?

Published studies put survival at around 86% of mini implants still working at 15 years. Conventional implants do better over a long horizon, and that is the honest reason this page also shows an upgrade path.

Is this one of those $399 implant ads?

No. A named local dentist does the work, and you get a real figure for your own case at the consult. There are monthly options if you need them, and nobody pushes you into anything.

Am I too old for this?

Age by itself is not the barrier, and what matters more is your general health. An exam is what settles that, not the year on your birth certificate. Many of the people we stabilize dentures for have retired already, and had written implants off years ago.

We say comfortable, and we do not say you will feel nothing. You get local anesthetic, and in most cases there is no cutting and no stitches. Most people tell us afterwards that it was easier than they had pictured.

If the denture slips, or you catch yourself hiding it, a consult answers the question one way or the other. You move at your own pace from there, and nobody chases you.

Loose dentures · Fredericksburg, Hanover, Mineral

Loose & failing dentures · Fredericksburg · Hanover · Mineral, VA

Your denture does not need replacing. It needs anchoring.

A mini implant is a narrow post, narrow enough to anchor in bone a standard implant cannot use. Your own denture clips onto the posts, so it holds instead of floating on the gum. Even if you have been told implants were not possible for you.Mini implants anchor the denture you already have, even in bone a standard implant cannot use.

Book a consultation Choose your nearest office

Choose your nearest office

Often no bone graftKeep the denture you ownMedicaid & most insuranceHablamos español

One teamsurgery and denture fit, never sent elsewhere

4.9 · 1,000+ reviews at our Fredericksburg office

A named local dentist, not a discount mill

Medicaid & most insurance

If you were told "no"

"Not enough bone" usually means not enough for a standard implant.

A standard post needs a ridge wide enough to surround it with living bone. A mini is about half that width, so a ridge that failed the first measurement can still hold one. That is the whole trick, and it is why a second opinion is worth the visit.

Straight with you: minis do their best work in the lower jaw, and they are not right for every mouth. Some conditions need treating before any implant goes in. An exam and an X-ray are what tell you which, and we say so either way.

A mini implant is about half the width of a standard one, so it fits a thinner ridge.

How it works

Loose denture in. Stable denture out.

First visit

Exam, X-ray, your figure

The X-ray shows how much bone you still have, and where it sits. You get a straight yes or no, and your own figure, at that visit.

The posts go in

The posts go in through the gum under local anesthetic rather than under a cut flap, which is why most cases need no stitches.

Then

Your denture clips on

Attachments go into the denture you already wear, so it clips down onto the posts. If it needs a reline or a repair first, we say so at the exam.

After

Follow-up

We check the fit as the gum settles, and adjust it if the bite has shifted. If you want fixed teeth later, it is the same dentist in the same building.

The mechanism, drawn

Two posts anchor in the bone. A housing inside the denture clips a ring over each rounded head, so the denture holds instead of floating.

What changes once it is in

Most patients stop buying adhesiveFood people give up often comes back: corn, apples, steakTalk and laugh without holding it inIt stays put in photos

Why us for this

Four things, together, almost nowhere else.

One team, start to finish

Surgery and denture fit happen in the same building, so there is no referral out, no second waiting room and no second file.

Coverage, said out loud

We take Medicaid and most insurance, and what your own plan pays toward this we work out with you before you decide.

Hablamos español

You can do all of this in English or in Spanish, from the first phone call through the follow-up.

Known for not upselling

Those are patients' words, not ours, and they are why we can be straight with you about what minis do not do well.

Places and restores implants in-house

Meet the doctor

Dr. Mohamed Arafa does both halves of this himself.

He places the posts and he restores the teeth that go on them, in his own offices. Nothing goes out to a second practice, so the person who placed the implants is the one who adjusts the fit six months later.

Member, American Academy of Implant Dentistry

Places the implants himself

Restores them in-house, same building

The group’s implant dentist, across all three offices

English & Spanish

What it costs

Your figure comes at the consult.

You get your figure at the consult, not before it. What it comes to depends on how many posts your ridge takes and what your denture needs first, so the X-ray comes before the number. We do not quote it over the phone, and a range on a web page would not be your range anyway.

If you need to spread it out, CareCredit and Cherry both run monthly plans. The offices also carry in-house payment plans, so ask about all three at the consult.

We accept Medicaid at all three offices, along with most PPO plans. What your own plan pays toward implant work is a question for the consult. Someone there reads your actual benefits instead of guessing at them.

Does it last?

Most are still working fifteen years on.

~86%still working at 15 years. That figure pools upper and lower jaws

~97%for worn-down ridge cases like the ones this page describes, measured at three years

FDAcleared for long-term use in the lower front jaw

Which jaw you are matters more than any of these numbers. A 2025 paper pooling earlier reviews put mini-implant survival near 96% in the lower jaw against about 77% in the upper, in follow-ups averaging two to three years. Lower dentures are where this works best, and Dr. Arafa tells you which case you are at the consult rather than after.

If you want more, later

The affordable first rung, not the ceiling. Upgrade anytime, same doctor, same building.

EntryMini implants: stabilize your denture

NextConventional implants

FullAll-on-4 / fixed full-arch

The ladder, drawn

Three tiers, from a loose denture to fixed teeth. The middle rung is this page, and it is a lower-jaw treatment first: the drawing cannot show you that, so it is written here. An exam says which rung fits your case.

Comparing your options

Side by side, honestly.

This page

Mini implants

Stabilize the denture you have

Best forA loose full denture, especially a lower one, even where bone is thin

InvolvesA smaller procedure: usually no graft, usually no stitches

TimelineShorter than conventional, with no graft to heal through

Your teethKeep your denture; it snaps on and off

Conventional implants

The longest horizon

Best forReplacing one tooth, or a few teeth, for good

InvolvesSurgery, and sometimes a bone graft first

TimelineThree to six months to the final tooth

Your teethFixed crowns, nothing removable

All-on-4 / full-arch

A full set of fixed teeth

Best forA whole arch of teeth that never comes out

InvolvesBigger surgery, with sedation available

TimelineThe longest of the three; we set the schedule at your consult

Your teethA new fixed set, no denture

What people ask before they call

Often, yes: a mini implant is roughly half the width of a standard one. That lets it anchor in a ridge too thin to hold the usual post. It is not right for everyone, but it is worth a second opinion before you accept a flat no.