All-on-4® Dental Implants

All-on-4® dental implants are a revolutionary type of denture designed to provide attractive, stable, and functional teeth for people who have lost all their teeth in one or both arches (upper arch/lower arch). This approach to tooth replacement utilizes the existing jawbone you currently have. With “angling,” your skilled dental implant dentist will strategically place four implants in your jaw.

If, after a thorough evaluation, All-on-4® appears to be the best option to replace your missing teeth, your Westchester implant dentist, Dr. Brisman or Dr. Lambrakos, will extract any remaining teeth and prepare your jawbone for four dental implants. Once your implants are placed, we will evaluate their stability.

After a few days, you’ll be able to bite and chew normally, but your implants will heal over a period of three to six months. You will get a permanent denture once your implants are fully integrated into your jawbone.

With All-on-4® Dental Implants, all of your teeth will be replaced in one day. With only two implants in the front of your mouth and two angled implants in the back, a beautiful full arch is created and supported in no time. You may hear about these innovative implants called “teeth in a day.”

Most patients who are good candidates for All-on-4® Dental Implants will not require bone grafting, which is typically necessary with traditional dental implants. Our implant dentists have had great success placing All-on-4® Dental Implants in many people who did not need traditional dental implants.

Implant-Supported Dentures

Implant-supported dentures are a permanent tooth replacement solution for patients who have lost their upper or lower teeth. Usually, four to eight implants are surgically placed into your jaw. Then, your Westchester implant dentist attaches the dentures to the implants. They stay firmly in place and allow you to eat foods that traditional dentures do not.

Implant-supported dentures use dental implants for those patients who are not good candidates for traditional dentures. If you do not have any teeth in the jaw, but you have sufficient jawbone to support dental implants, you are a candidate for implant-supported dentures. These dentures are secured to dental implants; however, you may be able to take the denture out for cleaning. Yet once they are snapped in, they are secure in your mouth and there’s no slippage.

Is All-on-4 the Same As Implant-Supported Dentures?

All-on-4® dental implants and implant-supported dentures are similar but not exactly the same. Both involve using dental implants to secure dentures, but they have key differences:

  • All-on-4® Dental Implants: This system uses four dental implants strategically placed in the jaw, with two in the front and two angled in the back. These implants support a full arch of teeth. All-on-4® implants often don’t require bone grafting and can provide a full set of teeth in one day, often referred to as “teeth in a day.”
  • Implant-Supported Dentures: These dentures are attached to dental implants, typically between four and eight implants. They offer more stability than traditional dentures, and some models can be removed for cleaning. Implant-supported dentures may require more implants than All-on-4® and may also involve bone grafting if the jawbone is insufficient.

While both approaches use implants for stability, All-on-4® uses fewer implants and is usually a quicker solution, whereas implant-supported dentures may involve more implants and can be removable.

Bone Grafting

A dental bone graft adds volume and density to your jaw in areas where bone loss has occurred. The bone graft material may be taken from your own body (autogenous), or it may come from other sources that your Westchester implant dentist will explain. Sometimes, the bone graft material may be synthetic (alloplast).

Types of Dental Bone Grafts

While not all implant recipients require bone grafts, those who do may want to know the different types of bone grafts utilized by our Westchester implant dentists:

Socket preservation. This graft is sometimes called ridge preservation, which is placed in the socket immediately after a tooth extraction.

Ridge augmentation. Ridge augmentation increases the jawbone’s width and volume, providing a stable foundation for implants or other restorative dentistry options.

Sinus lift. If the upper back teeth are missing, the sinuses can drop down and invade the space once occupied by the teeth roots. A sinus lift would be necessary in this case; this procedure puts the sinus back to its proper position. A dental bone graft is placed underneath the sinus, creating a solid foundation for future dental implants.

Periodontal bone graft. A periodontal bone graft is placed around an existing tooth to support teeth that are not stable.

Learn More From Your Dental Implant Dentist in Westchester

We understand this is a lot to take in, so the Chappaqua Dentistry team stands ready to answer your questions and explain these options further. Please just call the office at (914) 238-8200 or fill out our online contact form so we can reach out to answer questions. You can also schedule a new patient evaluation and see which tooth replacement options would be best for you.