The all-on-4 implant treatment is a consideration for patients who have dentures or who think they will need dentures. An example would be a patient who has been told they have to lose all of their teeth due to periodontal disease, non-restorable caries or failing bridges and crowns. . Some patients stay away from dentists all together. I’ve heard stories of people whose dentures fell out at restaurants either during a romantic dinner with a significant other or during an important sales meeting. They basically couldn’t eat or smile.
Other patients who have sought out dental advise have been told that the only way to have fixed or attached teeth eventually would be to undergo multiple surgeries and over the course of many months to over a year all while wearing removable dentures over painful incisions and extensive grafting for jawbone reconstruction.
Weeks or months of healing and pain with more conventional and more expensive treatment does not have to be the only option. Some of these “worst nightmare” situations can be taken care of in just one appointment with relaxing conscious sedation techniques. We do this by identifying the areas where the jawbone is still strong using a CBCT (scan) and strategically placing as little as four dental implants with little to no grafting in predetermined positions and deliberate mechanical inclinations. The specific angles in which the implants are placed make the connection points to the “same day replacement teeth” spread out enough to adequately handle chewing forces and create an esthetically pleasing smile. We encourage patient input in the planning stages of treatment as most patients usually prefer a more natural yet better version of what they used to have before the problems began.
Although this treatment modality is not for everyone, those patients that are phobic about dentists and dentures definitely deserve a chance at learning about what I call one of the “miracles” of dentistry….All-on-4. Get rid of pain, denture glues and get ready to smile and laugh. Personal and career changing transformations can realistically be one surgical appointment away.
The next day! Although there could be exceptions, most of my All-on-4 patients have insisted that they could have gone to work the next morning after the dental implants and new teeth have been placed. I had a recent case where the gentleman actually drove into work despite being excused because he was so eager to share his new smile with everyone at the office!
This is a loaded question as we do what Clearchoice does including the all-on-4 procedure. The short answer is to get as many qualified opinions as you can. The difference between us and Clearchoice is that we have a doctor owned private specialty practice setting as opposed to a franchise model. We have been serving our community since 1994 while Clearchoice is a newer model started just a few years ago here in Miami. As far as the doctors that work there, they all should be specialists in their respective fields as are we. It’s really about establishing realistic expectations and making sure you explore worst case scenarios with your doctors personally (not a case presentation business person). It is also very important that you interview the surgical and restorative doctors that would be treating you and exhaust any list of questions and concerns regarding your proposed treatment. The problem we see is that patients are often looking for a “clear choice alternative” but find it difficult to find one. We do see a significant number of patients seeking a second opinion to clear choice when they visit our office but always tell them to go with whom they feel most comfortable and always follow your gut. Hope this helps.
I would say anywhere from zero to two. The interesting thing about the all-on-4 procedure is that the majority of our patients have reported little to absolutely no pain after the procedure. As a matter of fact, they are so surprised at this that they have either gone back to work the next day or have been out and about showing off their new smiles. We know this because on many occasions we have been privileged to have our patients drive back to our office the very next morning to thank us personally.
We think a lot has to do with our sedation techniques, the use of growth factors and the fact that the teeth are connected to the implants on the day of the surgery. This means that there is no pressure or rubbing over the surgical site as you would expect with more conventional types of temporary teeth.
At least 60% of all adult tooth extractions in our practice are due to periodontal diseases and many more people have the disease and don’t even know it.
As far as how many people get LANAP as opposed to traditional surgery and deep cleanings?
Our experience has been that once a patient has had the opportunity to become well informed on the differences between LANAP and traditional surgery, LANAP is the much preferred treatment option.
Some differences:
LANAP
•98% of laser treated patients remain stable after 5 years
•Less time in the dental chair (one to two laser visits)
•Less risk of infection, less sensitivity, less bleeding
•Gum recession much less of a problem than scalpel surgery
•Less invasive
•One day recovery time with minimal discomfort
Alternatives
•Scaling and root planning (“deep cleaning”) can be used to maintain pocket depth but have very little to no effect on making the pocket smaller or regenerating bone loss
•Tooth extraction and Dental implants
•Flap surgery with or without bone grafting can have a 2 to 4 week recovery with considerable pain and swelling\
•With all alternatives, increased bleeding, swelling and discomfort
•Removable Dentures
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