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All on Four dental implants is an advanced treatment to restore multiple missing teeth, restoring your ability to smile, talk, and eat comfortably. The procedure uses just four dental implants and can provide significant benefits for anyone facing or coping with complete tooth loss.
This guide explains how All on 4 works, the treatment process, and how it could improve your dental health.
All on Four is a procedure developed several decades ago, where an entire arch of teeth can be supported on just four dental implants. The procedure is innovative because of how the implants are located.
Normally, six or more implants are needed with a traditional implant procedure to restore a complete arch. These implants are spread evenly along the bony arch that originally held your natural teeth. With All on 4, all the implants are inserted toward the front of your mouth.
Part of the success of this treatment lies in the way the implants are inserted, as they are angled in a specific way. Generally, if you have ordinary implants, they are inserted vertically, but with All-on-Four, two of the implants are inserted at an angle, tilting backward. These tilted implants bookend the two remaining implants inserted vertically, right in the front of the jaw.
The tilted implants are particularly important because tilting them enables us to use longer dental implants. The longer implant screws provide greater stability and strength, ensuring your implants can comfortably support a complete arch of teeth.
Once the implants are inserted, they are strong enough to support a complete arch of teeth.
The treatment process for All-on-4 Dental implants is similar to an ordinary implant procedure. You will still need a full consultation, and we must take diagnostic images, including a cone beam CT scan.
Our implant dentist thoroughly plans your dental implant treatment, placing your implants using computer-guided surgery. With this technique, we may be able to fit your new teeth soon after surgery.
Fitting temporary teeth onto your implants helps lock them together so they can remain undisturbed during healing. This is extremely important as bone grows on and around the implant posts anchoring them permanently in your jawbone during healing.
If we cannot fit a temporary set of teeth onto your implants soon after your surgery, we can still provide a temporary prosthesis or adapt an existing denture for use during healing.
Your permanent prosthesis will be made several months later once healing is complete. It will look and feel even better than your temporary teeth and is stronger, so you can eat almost anything you wish.
There are several advantages to this treatment outlined below.
If you have lost multiple teeth or face losing teeth in the future, you are likely suitable for this treatment.
It’s also worth investigating All-on-Four dental implants if you have previously been told you need a bone grafting before implant surgery.
It would help if you were in reasonable health and ideally have no conditions affecting your immune system. This is because certain conditions can affect healing after implant surgery and the overall success of treatment. However, it is still worth seeing us for a proper assessment. For example, if you have well-controlled diabetes, you can still probably have implant treatment.
When you visit Broadway Mall Dental, we can soon assess your suitability for this procedure based on your unique oral and general health requirements. We will only recommend it if we feel it has an excellent chance of success.
Generally, All-on-Four dental implants are used to replace lower arches of teeth. Replacing lower teeth with a traditional denture tends to cause more problems in the future since the denture relies entirely on the bony arch for support. In comparison, an upper denture covers your upper palate, so it has greater retention and is less likely to cause problems as the jawbone changes shape.
However, if you have an upper denture or have lost your upper teeth, All-on-Four implants can be an option. It may mean that we need to approach treatment slightly differently, and you could require more implants for support.
One problem with replacing upper teeth with implants is the close proximity of your sinus cavities. These air-filled spaces on either side of your nose just above your upper back teeth must be avoided during implant placement. Also, the jawbone is typically thinner in this area, and bone grafting may be necessary to ensure implant treatment is successful.
The procedure is low risk, and All-on-Four dental implants have an excellent success rate. All on 4 dental implants problems are relatively rare but can sometimes happen. Risks can arise if your dental implants become infected, which can occur soon after surgery or years later. The risks are higher if you don’t care for your implants properly.
You can help ensure your treatment is a long-term success by committing to following a good oral hygiene routine. This should include cleaning around your dental implants meticulously and visiting us regularly for checkups and hygiene appointments. If you smoke, it’s a great idea to quit. You would need to quit smoking during treatment; quitting for good will help protect and preserve your dental implants and your oral health.
If you’ve been wondering how to deal with multiple tooth loss, contact us to learn about All-on-Four dental implants.
