In an ideal world, your teeth follow you into old age and serve you well — but this ideal isn’t all that common. It might surprise you that 178 million Americans are missing at least one tooth, and 40 million are missing all their teeth.
If you find yourself on this spectrum and need to replace partial or entire rows of teeth, your opinions aren’t limited to standard dentures, thanks to dental implants.
More specifically, we’re referring to the innovative All-on-4® implant-supported system we’re pleased to offer here at Aura Dentistry. Over the years, Dr. Negar Tehrani have helped our patients chew, smile, and talk with more confidence thanks to All-on-4 implant-supported dentures, and it’s worth exploring whether we can do the same for you.
In this month’s blog post, we explain the All-on-4 system and review its many advantages.
The idea behind All-on-4 implant-supported dentures
Dental implants have been game changers when it comes to replacing missing teeth. With this approach, we mimic the lost tooth, right down to its roots, to provide superior stability and prevent bone loss in your jaw.
With a dental implant, we place a metal post into your jaw, and new bone grows up and around it, fusing the post into place. Once the post is secure, we attach a crown, and this new tooth fits seamlessly with your existing teeth in both form and function.
Each year in the United States, about 5 million implants are placed and we suspect that a sizable chunk of this number is linked to implant-supported dentures.
As the name suggests, with the All-on-4 technique, we strategically place four implants into your upper or lower jawbones (or both) and use these as anchor points for the entire row of replacement teeth.
The many benefits of All-on-4 dentures
Replacing missing rows of teeth with dentures is a great way to restore a person’s ability to chew and talk (not to mention smile), but traditional dentures have some drawbacks that the All-on-4 system addresses beautifully, such as:
1. Superior stability
Traditional dentures are held in place by adhesives and/or suction, which allows for some wiggle and instability in the teeth. With the All-on-4 system, the replacement teeth are affixed to dental implants that are firmly anchored in your jaw, so your teeth are more stable. This means you can chew and talk with more confidence.
2. All-on-4 implant-supported dentures don’t come out
Once we place your implant-supported dentures, they’re firmly attached, which means it’s business as usual when it comes to hygiene — daily brushing, flossing, and rinsing. Conversely, with traditional dentures, you need to remove and clean them daily with special cleansers.
3. Less gum irritation
Since the All-on-4 implant-supported dentures are affixed in your mouth, you won’t encounter the gum irritation associated with traditional dentures.
4. Less bone loss
By placing metal posts in your jawbone, we signal to your body that the area is still active, encouraging continued bone remodeling. With traditional dentures, bone loss is progressive as your body ceases to rebuild the bone because there are no more roots.
As you can see, the All-on-4 implant-supported system has many advantages over traditional dentures. If you’d like to find out whether you’re a good candidate for this fantastic approach to replacing missing teeth, please contact our office in McLean, Virginia, at 703-429-0770 to schedule an appointment. You can also request an appointment using our online form.
