All on 4

It has become more common today for patients to request and be recommended for Dental Implant treatment. Sometimes a single tooth Implant is all that is needed. Many people have medical or health issues that make saving the teeth very difficult. Some request Dental Implant treatment for cosmetic reasons. One of the most well known rehabilitating implant treatments is one that we see a lot on TV commercials today. Commonly it is said as “teeth in a Day”. What this involves is removing all the teeth and placing implants. In the Dental Profession we call these by a couple of names. One name is “All on Four” another name is Dental Implant Hybrid and another is an Implant Dental Bridge. The “All on Four ” is called this because there are four Implants that are used to restore 12 teeth. That is a whole upper or lower jaw. The restored teeth are typically made from a Denture with a Titanium Bar inside which is screwed into the Implants. This is not removed except to clean the Denture. 

 

The teeth are removed and Implants are placed. A Denture Temporary is made to act as teeth immediately after the surgery. This is where the notion of Teeth in a Day comes from. Those temporaries are not to be used as chewing teeth immediately following as the Implants need time to heal. When the Implants have healed is when the permanent Bridge with the Bar is made for restoring teeth. 

 

At Anderson Family Dentistry we strive for a most excellent outcome for our Patients. We want to give our Patients great value so we Partner with Oral Surgeons and a Laboratory that strives for an approach that lasts and gives our patients the most out of their investment with a All on Four. We do not restore our All on 4’s with Denture teeth. Rather we make all of our “All on 4s” with Dental Crowns which act as regular teeth. This is a deviation from the more Commercial Corporate approach. We do this because we find that the more Commercial way tends to wear out teeth in a couple of years. The Denture teeth have to be replaced routinely every 3-4 years. With All on 4’s made with crowns we have not seen any break down. It is not typical to replace a Crown but if one breaks and needs to be replaced we do not need to remove the whole Hybrid which is equal to a jaw of 12 teeth, and send it into the Lab. Instead what we can do is just make a regular new crown and cement it as a regular Crown. We do not charge more for the increase in value of making an All on 4 with 12 crowns instead of Plastic Denture teeth. This is because we want our patients to have the benefit of the longevity and the cosmetics of Dental Crowns over Denture teeth.