If you have suffered from a lot of tooth loss and are now considering wearing dentures as a suitable replacement for your natural teeth, it may also be worth considering all-on-4 dental implants as an alternative to traditional dentures.
All-on-4 dental implants can be used to replace one full arch of teeth, this means you can have a full set of working replacement teeth on either the top or bottom of your mouth.
These are a set of fixed prosthetic teeth that instead of working like traditional dentures that sit over your gums, they are attached by four dental implants that act as anchors for better stabilisation.
What are all-on-4 implants?
Four implants are fixed into your jawbone and work just like an original tooth root. Once the implants have healed, your dentist will then be able to attach prosthetic crowns to the titanium screws. The crowns will be made from either porcelain or acrylic.
How all-on-4 implants differ from traditional dental implants is where instead of needing a single screw for each individual dental implant to replace each missing tooth, all-on-4 attach an entire set of teeth to just the four implant screws.
The main difference is that you can remove traditional dentures, but all-on-4 implants are not removable.
Who is suitable for all-on-4 implants?
Your dentist will be able to assess your oral health and the condition of your gums and jawbone to make sure that you are suitable for this treatment option. If your dentist doesn’t think this is a suitable solution to replace your missing teeth, they will work with you to find a more suitable solution for you.
All-on-4 dental implants are usually suitable for patients with the following dental issues:
- Replacing teeth following substantial tooth decay and infection
- Restoring teeth after several failed root canals
- Replacing teeth that can’t be saved following a severe accident
To really benefit from this teeth replacement solution you would need to have sufficient, healthy jaw bone mass to be able to take the implants. People that don’t like the idea of wearing or looking after traditional dentures may prefer this as a more permanent solution.
What are the advantages of all-on-4
Yes, there are advantages to think about before you decide to go ahead with this treatment. Some things to consider are:
All-on-4 dental implants can be a better solution to having a lot of individual dental implants, especially if you need to have a drawn-out plan of bone grafting to stabilise the jaw bone to be able to take the implants.
In a lot of cases, a patient may be able to have a whole set of new replacement teeth in just one day! They are more convenient than removable dentures and don’t suffer from the same issues for irritating your gums as dentures do when they become loose.
With this option, there is less likelihood that your life will be disrupted for long or foods restricted for any length of time until your mouth has healed.
