It is extremely common to be missing all of your upper and/or lower teeth, and require dentures for chewing and cosmetic reasons. Also, people may have deteriorating teeth that do not allow optimal chewing function or appearance. Rather than living with the troubles and awkwardness of dentures, many people are electing for dental implant-supported full arch upper and/or lower restorations.
Dental implants are the foundation for this significant advancement in tooth replacement. An implant is a small titanium screw that is surgically inserted inside your jawbone and replaces the root portion of a missing tooth. A crown is attached to the implant, providing a true-to-life and functional replacement of the lost tooth. Over a short healing period, the dental implant will fuse to living bone and act as a foundation for new prosthetic teeth. In addition, the fusion between the dental implant and the jawbone continually stimulates bone, preventing further bone loss and maintenance of a more youthful facial structure. To learn more about dental implants, please review the section on Implants
By combining the precise technology of the “all-on-six” procedure with the expertise of your general dentist, Dr. Medel truly enjoys providing patients with a new smile in one day. Under IV sedation, any necessary dental extractions and bone smoothing are performed at the same time as the placement of the dental implants. The new arches of upper and/or lower teeth are then secured to the dental implants. You will leave the office with a natural looking, fully functioning set of teeth in one day.
After your surgery day, your new smile will look and feel great, but it is only temporary. It takes time for your dental to heal and fuse to your jawbone. Once that happens, you will visit your general dentist to replace your temporary teeth with a permanent, customized smile designed just for you.
Although a rare event, implants fail 2% of the time. Many other dental practioners recommend an “all-on-four” technique, which uses 4 rather than 6 implants per arch. With an “all-in-four” technique, the entire prosthesis fails if one out of the four implants fail. In this instance, the full arch prosthesis would be discarded, a new implant would be placed in a new location, a new temporary prosthesis would be made, and finally a new permanent prosthesis would be made, all at great time and expense to the patient. However, Dr. Medel recommends 6 implants per arch if possible to ensure success of the full arch restoration. If 1 or 2 implants fail, the entire prosthesis remains functional and additional setbacks can be avoided.
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