The Truth About Dental Implants

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Suffering From Tooth Loss? How All-On-4 Implants Can Help

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The biggest concern many patients have with missing teeth is the aesthetics of their smile. However, many other problems arise when a person loses his or her teeth. Take a look at these concerns and why receiving all-on-4 implants could help.

What are the problems associated with tooth loss?

When you lose your teeth, the remaining ones naturally shift to fill in these gaps; this can cause crowding and ruin teeth that were once aligned.

If you are missing any front teeth, it may be hard to enunciate when you speak. People with missing teeth also tend to favor the side with most teeth, meaning that these remaining teeth can wear down because of overuse. You may experience TMJ disorder due to uneven bite pressure as you chew.

Lastly, because natural tooth roots stimulate bone structures, losing them could cause the density of jaw bone to shrink. Not only will this give your face a gaunt look, but it could make it harder to place dental prostheses that could potentially help.

What are all-on-4 implants?

You've likely heard of dental implants—surgical implants in the skull that hold prostheses, like crowns. These implants can get expensive, so you may be looking into dentures instead. However, all-on-4 implants are a nice balance between the two options. The term all-on-4 means you will have all of your teeth (on a denture) held in place by four implants. Many people don't like the feel of adhesive dentures, so an all-on-4 implant rehabilitation fixes this problem since the dentures snap on to the implants.

In the past, you may have needed about six to eight implants, which may not have been viable in terms of healing and cost. However, all-in-4 implants can be completed at a dental office in a day! If an office doesn't have an in-house lab, the turn-around time could still be quick—the implants could be placed in just a couple of appointments.

What are some of the benefits of all-on-4 implants?

Again, because there are fewer implants placed, the cost of surgery is much better than other options. It's a good idea to look at both your health insurance policy and dental policy to see what they will cover.

Although you may be sore after surgery, the actual procedure is painless (you'll be under anesthetic) and usually easier to accomplish than a tooth extraction. Dentures may need to be replaced over time, the implants themselves can last a life-time. This means you can quickly replace your dentures.

All-on-4 implants increase your quality of life: you will have a full set of teeth to eat with and talk with. You won't have to feel ashamed of smiling in pictures anymore.

For more information on this procedure, contact a dentist in your local area.


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