Nodentures » All on 4 Dental Implants

All on 4 Dental Implants: Revolutionary Protocol for Complete Oral Rehabilitation

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:49:27 +0000

This article takes a sweeping look at the All on 4 dental implant technique and the various benefits it affords patients over and above traditional placement protocol.

In the early 1990’s, years of clinical research and computer and biomechanical simulations culminated in a new dental implant placement protocol that was to revolutionize the fields of fixed oral rehabilitation and implantology. The technique developed by the combined efforts of Nobel Biocare, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of dental implant technology, and European implantologist, Dr. Paulo Malo, became referred to as the All-on-4. Since its conception, All on 4 dental implants have gone on to provide tens of thousands of edentulous (not having a single original adult tooth left) and near-edentulous patients with a comprehensive, immediate and long-term solution to all of their oral problems. This article takes a look at All on 4 dental implants in Houston and some of the benefits this technique has over traditional surgical placement protocol.

All on 4 Dental Implants in Houston: How the Technique Works

Previously, the patients that required a brand new set of teeth faced a choice between removable dentures, which go hand-in-hand with a vast array of difficult challenges, or a journey to oral rehabilitation that involved numerous consultations, surgeries, bone grafting and the placement of up to 20 dental implants! As a result, traditional dental implant protocol required as many as 18 months and sometimes more before a patient was able to smile with confidence again. This is not even to mention the exorbitant expenses associated with such a journey! All on 4 dental implants were essentially born out of a need to provide a more immediate, less expensive and far more sophisticated solution to rampant tooth loss and edentulism. And here is how the technique works:

The All on 4 dental implants technique consists of a fully customized prosthetic dental bridge, which is secured permanently in the mouth using, as the name suggests, only four implants (tiny, titanium screws). Owing to the precise placement and careful angulation of the All on 4 dental implants, skilled and qualified dentists are almost always able to avoid the need for bone grafting surgery beforehand. This applies even to patients that present with a substantial loss of bone volume in the jaw; a natural result of tooth loss gone untreated. As such, the entire procedure can quite easily be completed in a single day and since modern dental implants are fabricated to withstand immediate loading, patients are able to return home on the same day of their surgery and use their new teeth for eating, speaking and of course, for smiling!

All on 4 Dental Implants in Houston: Summing Up the Benefits

So, with All on 4 dental implants in Houston, patients are able to get a brand new set of immediately functional, perfectly aesthetic and comfortable replacement teeth that are permanently secured in the mouth using implants. The quality and durable materials that go into the manufacturing of the prosthesis and implant products ensure that All on 4 dental implants in Houston provide a comprehensive and long-term solution to tooth loss and edentulism; regardless of the underlying cause.

All on 4 Dental Implants in Houston: The Three Steps to Oral Rehabilitation, PART 2

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:01:18 +0000

This article, part 2 of 2, describes the various steps a patient needs to go through before receiving a new set of teeth with the ‘All-on-4’ dental implant protocol.

In our previous article post on All on 4 dental implants in Houston, we took patients on a conceptual tour of what is involved in getting a brand new set of immediately functional, aesthetic and non-removable teeth in a day with this breakthrough surgical protocol. We began with the initial consultation, which is used to assess a patient’s oral problems and candidacy for All on 4 dental implants in Houston. X-ray and CAT-scan images are also taken during this consultation to aid the detailed planning of the patient’s surgery and in the fabrication of their fixed and non-removable prosthetic dental bridge. The article then went on to discuss the procedure followed on the day of the placement of the All on 4 dental implants in Houston, which ends with a patient returning home to a light meal and a good night’s rest. In this, the second and final installment on this theme, we shall take a look at what a patient can expect to experience during their recovery and what kind of post-operative care they will need to take of their new beautiful teeth!

All on 4 Dental Implants in Houston: Recovery

There is unfortunately quite a common misconception surrounding dental implants: that it is exceptionally painful to have them placed. In reality, however, nothing could be further from the truth. While there is a degree of discomfort following the placement of All on 4 dental implants in Houston, this is easily managed with prescription analgesics or pain-killers and in any case subsides after a few days. In fact, the post-operative pain associated with All on 4 dental implants in Houston is less than that of having a tooth extracted, so patients should not allow a concern for discomfort to come in the way of them seeking oral rehabilitation.

All on 4 Dental Implants in Houston: Post-Operative Care

All the instructions you are expected to follow will be fully reviewed by your dentist on the day of your surgery, before you go home. Generally, post-operative recovery is minimal with many patients actually returning to work the very next day! The guidelines for care are as follows:

• Avoid eating any hard or crunchy foods for the first few weeks,

• Avoid habits such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption; this compromises healing and can actually lead to the failure of All on 4 dental implants in Houston,

• Follow the prescribed dosages for analgesics in the management of post-operative pain and discomfort,

• Get plenty of rest and eat a balanced diet; this will enhance your body’s ability to heal faster,

• Look after your new teeth as you would your original natural teeth; this includes twice daily brushing (for two minutes at a time), daily flossing and gargling with an anti-bacterial mouthwash.

After six months, the All on 4 dental implants in Houston should have completely healed, at which stage you will return to the dentist to have your permanent prosthesis placed.

A Final Note on All on 4 Dental Implants in Houston

This breakthrough procedure provides an immediate functional, aesthetic and comfortable solution to edentulism and near-edentulism. Don’t compromise your quality of life by settling for inferior tooth replacement technology. All on 4 dental implants in Houston offers a comprehensive and long-term solution!

All on 4 Dental Implants and the Benefits Afforded by this Breakthrough Procedure

admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:20:45 +0000

This article explores the many benefits associated with the ‘All-on-4’ dental implant technique, including reduced costs and unprecedented treatment time.

All on 4 dental implants are one of the most significant innovations to have been made in dental science in recent decades. Hailed as a ‘breakthrough’ in the fields of dental implantology and fixed oral rehabilitation, the All-on-4 is bringing unprecedented solutions and benefits to thousands of edentulous and near-edentulous patients (those who have lost all or most of their original adult teeth). No longer do we need to consider removable dentures or false teeth as our fate when life-long indulgences, accident or disease, begin to take their toll on our pearly whites. The All on 4 dental implants protocol is the most sophisticated and advanced solution modern dental science has to offer those presenting with rampant tooth loss and edentulism.

About All on 4 Dental Implants: Unprecedented Treatment Time

The ‘All-on-4’ protocol essentially consists of the permanent attachment of a rigid prosthetic dental bridge in the mouth. This prosthetic structure has been carefully custom fabricated to function, feel and look like a real set of healthy teeth and gums. A patient who has been determined to be a candidate for All on 4 dental implants simply needs to arrive at the Implant Center in the morning, undergo a single surgery for complete oral rehabilitation and wake up in the afternoon with the entire procedure already complete! In other words, in just a few hours, patients are able to go from being toothless (and all the challenges, compromises and struggles that are associated with this state) to having a full set of beautiful, non-removable and immediately functional teeth! This unprecedented treatment time is what really sets the ‘All-on-4’ apart from traditional dental implant techniques.

About All on 4 Dental Implants: Cost-Effective Treatment for Tooth Loss and Edentulism

Apart from being able to get new and beautiful teeth in a single day, candidates for the ‘All-on-4’ protocol are also looking at much reduced costs. Traditional dental implant techniques frequently call for the use of 6, 8 and even more implants per jaw; especially in those that have lost all of their original adult teeth to decay and gum disease. When you consider that each dental implant has a price range in the quadruple digits, complete oral rehabilitation, which can require as many as 20 implants and multiple surgeries, works out to be quite a financial burden for the patient. All on 4 dental implants, as the name suggests, only requires four implants per jaw in order to completely restore smile aesthetics and bite functionality. In fact, the discrepancy in cost between the ‘All-on-4’ protocol and more traditional implant methods can work out to be more than $15,000.00!

All on 4 Dental Implants: Multi-Beneficial Protocol for Oral Rehabilitation

These two advantages offered by All on 4 dental implants are really the tip of the iceberg. Additionally:

The dental bridge used in the All on 4 Dental Implants protocol is permanently attached in the mouth and as such, it cannot shift around or fall out like removable dentures tend to.
The ‘All-on-4’ dental bridge is cleaned and looked after just like natural teeth.
It does not cause bad breath, trigger the gag reflex or impede taste ability.
The All on 4 dental implants and bridge are carefully fabricated to perfectly fit the natural contours of the patient’s mouth. As a result, it feels completely natural and doesn’t sit like a foreign object in your mouth.
All on 4 dental implants promote long term oral health by preventing atrophy of the jaw bone. In doing so, a patient’s natural, youthful facial contours are preserved.
Enables patients to eat all the foods they love, but previously couldn’t with missing teeth or removable dentures.

If you want your beautiful smile back and all the confidence that comes with having natural and healthy-looking teeth, All on 4 dental implants are the way to go!

Removing Failing Subperiosteal Dental Implants & Replacing with All-On-4 Dental Implants

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:53:59 +0000

This morning, at the Brueggen Dental Implant Center, we did a lower All-on-4 dental implants case for a 60 yr old gentleman from Colorado.

He was in town on personal business and learned about us from a T.V. ad. His medical history was non-contributory. Dentally, he was wearing an upper and lower denture. There was a mobile and failing unilateral subperiosteal implant on the lower left, and one had previously been removed on the lower right. Subperiosteal implants are placed beneath the “gums” and rest on, but not in, the bone.

Subperiosteal implants are used when there is inadequate bone volume to place a dental implant into the bone, and the treating doctor is not aware or trained in other options. They experience a very high failure rate. I have removed a number of subperiosteal implants but have never placed one.

These implants were placed in Colorado about 15 years ago when the upper and lower dentures were made. It was the doctor’s hope to attach the lower denture to the subperiosteal implants, but unfortunately, that was never possible.

This patient was displeased with the fit of his false teeth. Even with thick denture adhesives, he was unable to eat, and the lower was unstable even in speech. He was a very active gentleman and very frustrated with his situation because his previous dentist had told him that he did not have enough bone for dental implants.

We took a cat scan (a very sophisticated x-ray designed to allow precise measurements of bone in all dimensions) and determined that he did have enough bone for dental implants if the All-on-4 dental implants (a full set of upper or lower teeth fixed to 4 dental implants) technique was used.

Consultation revealed that financially doing this on the upper and lower was not feasible, so we elected to do a new denture on the upper and the All-on-4 dental implant procedure on the lower. Our in-house lab pre-made the upper denture, so when he arrived this morning, we were able to deliver that before I began the surgery.

Using conscious oral sedation, I began the surgery at 9:30 A.M. The failing subperiostel implant was removed, 4 endosseous dental implants were placed, and the surgery was completed at 10:55 A.M.

Impressions were taken for the lab and at 4:30 P.M., the patient was ready to leave with his new upper denture and new lower non-removable teeth attached to 4 implants.

His healing and recovery should be uneventful, and I anticipate making his final set of teeth in 6 months.

Dr. Brueggen

Houston Dental Implant Dentist

Ridge Expansion in Preparation for Upper All-on-Four Procedure

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:26:13 +0000

My last two blogs were about Mr. A, the gentleman that we did an upper All-on-Four on about 2 weeks ago and who is waiting for hyperbaric oxygen treatment, so I can proceed with the same on the lower. I saw him Monday and he is continuing to do well with the upper. I’ll keep you informed as Mr. A’s treatment continues.

I began another interesting case last week. As this is our second case report we will, with great originality, call this Mrs. B. Mrs. B is a 75 year old woman in good health who came to me with missing back teeth and a fixed bridge on the upper and lower that went from the eye tooth on one side to the eye tooth on the other; 6 unit bridges. Decay had gotten under all 4 crowns on the eye teeth and the bridges or teeth could not be saved.

To make a long story short, it turned out that Mrs. B wanted her remaining teeth removed and wished to have the All-on-Four procedure on the upper and lower, i.e. full sets of upper and lower non-removable teeth made of 4 upper and 4 lower implants. The problem here was that the front teeth that were replaced by the upper fixed bridge had been extracted many years ago and the bone in that area had dissolved, leaving a ridge of only 4 millimeters in width. Mrs. B’s previous dentist told her that there was not adequate bone volume for implants and that she would either need extensive bone grafting, using her hip as a donor site or just give up and wear dentures. These were not attractive alternatives to Mrs. B so she came to me for a consult.

We now have a couple of bone grafting materials that work just about as well as natural bone, possibly better, that require no secondary surgery to harvest material for a graft. But as it turned out, Mrs. B could be treated adequately without bone grafting of any nature, so I’ll talk about the new bone grafting materials in another blog. When teeth are removed, the bone remaining that once held the roots of the teeth is called a ridge. To place a large enough implant to secure a non-removable set of teeth, the ridge needs to be a least 7 millimeters wide. As I mentioned, Mrs. B‘s ridge was only 4 mm wide. Keep in mind that bone has a consistency more like wood than concrete, so it is possible in certain circumstances to “stretch” or expand it. In this case, by making a very thin incision in the center of the bone ridge and then placing a small tapered screw into the bone, I was able to expand it to 7mm and place the implants. This saved Mrs. B two additional surgeries, months of healing time and a lot of expense. Though the success rate for this procedure is very high, it is not without possible complications, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

Visit http://www.nodentures.com/ to learn more about the All-on-Four Dental Implants procedure.

Completed All-on-Four Dental Implant Case

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:22:19 +0000

Good morning everyone. I promised a report this week on the case I mentioned last week. That was the patient requiring full mouth reconstruction with the All-on-Four technique because of rampant and uncontrollable tooth decay as a result of head and neck radiation therapy for oral cancer. We’ll call this gentleman Mr. A as he is the first of our case reports. As you may recall, I decided to do the upper only and proceed with the lowers later after appropriate hyperbaric therapy. Mr. A arrived at 8AM Monday morning to begin his sedation. At 9AM, the surgery had begun. Under conscious sedation, 8 upper teeth were extracted and 4 dental implants were placed. The surgery was completed at 11:15 AM and we began making a new set of teeth. Mr. A rested comfortably and at 4PM we let him see his new smile. Mr. A loved it and reported the following day that he was pain free and working in his garden. I expect a continued uneventful recovery. Regarding the need for hyperbaric oxygen treatment before I proceed with the lower, there is an interesting side note. This has often been a major inconvenience for my patients because of the expense – often in excess of $10,000.00. Mr. A found that Medicare will cover the cost. That’s a welcome development. As this case moves to completion, I’ll keep you up to date. Mr. A’s next visit will be in about two weeks. We’ll check on healing and give him oral hygiene instruction. I’ll let you know how he is. Visit www.nodentures.com to learn more about the All-on-4 procedure.

Dr. Wayne Brueggen

Former Cancer Patient to Receive All-on-4 Dental Implants

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:29:11 +0000

I encountered an interesting challenge a few days ago and did the follow up consultation yesterday. This patient was a healthy active 72 yr. old gentleman missing only a couple of teeth that had been replaced with fixed bridges and his remaining teeth were all crowned. Most of this work had been completed about 7 yrs ago and was beautifully conceived, planned and crafted. Unfortunately, there was recurrent tooth decay under almost every crown and several teeth were actually broken off.

The medical history revealed that this gentleman had been treated for cancer on the border of his tongue about 15 years ago with radiation and chemo. Dry mouth and other factors related to this treatment regimen lead to his rampant tooth decay. Neither he nor I had any confidence that if we removed and replaced all of his existing crowns and bridges that the result would be lasting. That combined with the need for surgery and dental implants, even if we did attempt a crown and bridge solution, led us to favor an approach that would ultimately involve removing all of his existing teeth and replacing them with implants and a non-removable set of teeth that would attach to them. This would require hyperbaric oxygen for the lower arch but not the upper.

We decided to do the upper arch this Monday with the classic All-on-Four procedure and work with the lower in a few weeks. Monday, I will extract all of his upper teeth, place four implants, and construct and deliver a full set of non-removable teeth. It will take most of the day, primarily to make the new teeth, but he will be sedated, so the day will go quickly and easily for him.

The primary risk for this patient is the possibility that I will not be able to attach his new teeth to the implants the same day and he may have to wear an upper denture for six months first. This risk is greatest when most of the upper teeth remain and require extraction on the day of implant placement. The tooth sockets leave little bone to engage the implants and sometimes, approximately 3% of the time, the implant cannot be placed sufficiently tight and I must wait before attaching anything to it. I’ll try to give you a report next week on how this goes.

Visit www.NoDentures.com to learn more about the All-on-Four Dental Implants procedure.

Dr. Brueggen

Houston Dental Implant Dentist