All-on-4® Treatment Concept
Your teeth are a critical component of your mouth, responsible for many important daily tasks. They allow you to bite and chew your food. They help you to communicate effectively through speech. They provide you with a smile that leaves a positive lasting impression. Your teeth are also integral to the health and integrity of your jawbone. When you lose your teeth, all of these functions are affected. Normal functions become difficult. Your smile and your confidence deteriorate. Your jawbone begins to grow weak and change shape, which can also cause your facial features to sink in. Dental implants are a popular treatment for restoring your missing teeth. However, for them to be successful, you need enough bone mass remaining in your jaw. Missing bone mass does not automatically disqualify you from receiving dental implants. At BiteLock, we provide the All-on-4 treatment concept.
Bone Loss and Dental Implants
Your teeth are essential for the health of your jawbone. Every time you chew, the teeth stimulate the bone. This triggers the body to send the nutrients it needs to remain strong. When you lose teeth, the stimulation lessens. As a result, fewer nutrients are sent. Eventually, the bone begins to grow weak and change shape.
Dental implants offer the unique benefit of putting a stop to the bone loss that follows tooth loss. Implants consist of small titanium rods that are surgically implanted into the jawbone. As you heal, the bone fuses to the titanium, turning the rods into stable roots that support your replacement teeth. If you lack sufficient bone mass, however, fusion may not occur properly, or at all. This can lead to implant failure. Find out if you are a candidate for Dental Implant.
The All-on-4 Treatment Concept
The All-on-4 treatment concept is designed to provide dental implants to those patients who have lost an entire arch of teeth, and who have suffered too much bone loss to support the 6 to 8 implants typically required for an implant supported a denture. Instead of relying on 6 to 8 implants, the All-on-4 treatment concept relies on only four implants. With this treatment, it is not the number of implants that are important but their strategic placement. Two of the implants are placed vertically at the front of the jaw, where there is naturally more bone mass. The other two implants are placed in the back of the jaw, one on each side. These implants are set at a 45-degree angle. This angle allows us to maximize contact between the implant and your jawbone, greatly increasing your chances of success.
Benefits of All-on-4
There are several benefits to the All-on-4 treatment concept. Many of these benefits are similar to those benefits of regular dental implants. They restore the functions and aesthetics of your teeth. They are more natural in appearance. Because your replacement crowns are supported by the implants rather than your gums, they are more comfortable. Implants help to stop the bone loss associated with tooth loss. One of the biggest benefits unique to the All-on-4 treatment concept is that it helps you to avoid the need for another invasive surgery with a lengthy recovery period, a bone graft, before undergoing implant surgery. This treatment also helps you to avoid the need for traditional dentures.
Just because you have lost bone mass after suffering tooth loss, this does not mean that you are automatically relegated to dentures or require a second surgical procedure. For more information, or to find out if the All-on-4 treatment concept is right for you, call BiteLock at (972) 594-7414 today.