Your smile plays a tremendously important role in your well-being. Healthy, functional teeth help to process a nutritious diet, and a beautiful smile is a big boost for your self-esteem. Unfortunately, many people may not realize how valuable their smiles are until they are faced with tooth loss. Therefore, edentulous patients should carefully consider their treatment options.
Patients who have lost all of their teeth may want to explore All-on-4 as a possible intervention to restore their smiles. With this treatment approach, four dental implants are placed in the jaw to anchor a specially designed denture that slides over the implants.
The outer two implants are angled beneath the gum line to allow them to provide more support to the rear portion of the prosthetic arch.
The periodontist is able to use specialized computer-guided technology to plan and perform the minimally invasive procedure, which takes just a few hours. Additionally, the patient can be fitted with a denture at that same appointment, significantly reducing the wait time needed to restore a smile in comparison to conventional dentures.
All-on-4 offers patients a number of benefits, including more stability and a better fit over time.
All-on-4 offers patients a number of benefits, including more stability and a better fit over time. Implant-supported dentures also tend to be more effective at chewing than conventional dentures.
The dental implants replicate the root structure of natural teeth because the surrounding bone osseointegrates with the implants, which become fixtures in the jaw. This quality helps All-on-4 dental implants to feel and function much like a biological smile. Additionally, the implants secure the jawbone and prevent the bone erosion that typically occurs after tooth loss and leads a standard denture to lose its fit over time. Because the jaw’s contour remains largely intact with All-on-4, the appliance tends to retain its fit.
Don’t despair if you need to replace an entire arch of missing teeth, or even both arches. All-on-4 dental implants can help you to restore a lifelike smile. Call today to schedule a consultation with one of our periodontists and learn more about how this treatment may be beneficial in your case.
