What is an All-on-4 or All-on-6 Dental Solution?
If you have lost a significant number of teeth, you may have heard of an All-on-4 or All-on-6 dental implant procedure. Here’s a bit more information to help you as you research this procedure.
An All-on-4 dental implants procedure is a solution that’s based on dental implants. Let’s explain the basic concept of dental implants first.
A dental implant is a post made of a special material that is bio-compatible with bone. It is inserted into your jawbone through minor dental surgery. This surgery is usually ambulatory and done using local anesthesia. However, a potential patient will need to have tests taken to see if he’s a candidate for the procedure or if there are some considerations that will require some extra preparation, for example, abnormal bleeding or diabetes.
After the dental implant placement surgery, you will need to wait typically between 4 to 6 months. During this time, the implant will fuse with the bone and in a sense, become part of it. Once the fusion is complete, the implant will have the same strength and stability as a natural tooth.
After the 4-6 month healing period, the patient returns for a second procedure that exposes the top of the implant, allowing for a dental crown to be placed and secured to the implant.
An All-on-4 is a solution based on the same principle as a dental implant, except that it uses 4 implants instead of one. (And, as you’ve probably guessed, an All-on-6 solution uses 6 implants per jaw.) Once these implants are fused, a denture is placed and fixed on top of them instead of individual crowns. This method is much more practical and convenient than inserting implants for each missing tooth.
After the All-on-4 is in place, very little specialized care is needed. The denture is firmly attached and your new teeth can be brushed as if they were natural teeth. Your new implant-based solution works and looks like natural teeth too. So, you’ll be able to smile, laugh and eat and people will not notice the difference. They will even feel like natural teeth to you!
These solutions are terribly expensive in the United States, forcing many people to seek inferior solutions like removable bridges. Many patients simply go without a solution and restrict the types of food that they can eat. Not being able to enjoy food is no way to live. That’s why more and more Americans (and even some Canadians!) are traveling to Costa Rica and Guatemala, where they can get affordable All-on-4s, dental implants, and other dental procedures at prices that are often fifty to seventy percent less than in the USA.
Goodness Dental is ranked as the #1 dental clinic in Costa Rica and Guatemala for All on 4 and All on 6 dental implant solutions. Fill out the form on this website to learn more from one of our patient coordinators.