For many patients in San Antonio, All-on-4 ® represents a transformative approach to dental restoration.

 

In the past, dentists and periodontists didn’t have many options for patients needing to replace most or all of their teeth. The most common method was dentures: a prosthetic that adheres to the gums and offers some of the benefits of natural teeth.

 

However, the past few decades have proven the efficacy of dental implants over dentures, and the introduction of All-on-4 makes full-arch replacement a more affordable, comfortable, and effective solution than before.

What Is All-on-4?

San Antonio patients who are missing one or several teeth may be good candidates for dental implants. During the procedure, a periodontist places a replacement tooth root (dental implant) which supports one or several crowns.

 

Before All-on-4, if a patient was missing many teeth or needed to have teeth extracted because of damage or disease, the doctor would need to place many tooth roots (dental implants). Today, using the All-on-4 procedure, Doctor Krueger can restore an entire dental arch by:

 

• Placing just a few dental implants in specific locations in the upper and/or lower arch. In certain cases, the procedure may require five or six implants for greater stability.
• Connecting a temporary, full-arch prosthesis to the implants.

After a few weeks, the dental implants will have bonded strongly to the jawbone and assumed their final position, and you will receive your permanent prosthesis. These teeth appear and function like your own.

Why Is All-on-4 So Popular?

Dentures were a natural progression for many patients. They would lose one tooth and receive a bridge, followed by a second bridge, and so on. They would ultimately require a full appliance to serve as replacement teeth.

 

The problem is that bridges and dentures do not provide replacement tooth roots. Without these roots, bone in the area of a missing tooth can begin to erode. This weakens the jawbone and creates a collapsed appearance around the mouth, aging the face. It also forms space between the gums and the bridge or dentures, which can make them look less natural or shift uncomfortably.

 

Because All-on-4 uses dental implants, it stimulates bone growth in the jaw and preserves the existing bone. It also restores the smile during a single procedure without the expense or time-consuming task of creating one root for every implant.   In short, All-on-4 offers all of the advantages of dentures but with a more natural appearance and greater functionality.

 

San Antonio All-on-4 patients can contact KRK Implant Center by calling 210.826.3946 or filling out the form on the right.