All-On-4®
The All-On-4® Treatment Concept Is A Cost Effective Dental Treatment Protocol
Once the exclusive language of dental professionals, the term All on 4 is becoming as commonplace as Invisalign. Vast amounts of scientific research indicated that an entire upper or lower set of teeth could be anchored securely with just four dental implants. This system, perfected by Noble Biocare, drastically reduced the cost of smiles built on implants and made natural smiles affordable for a whole new population of patients.
Patients Participate in Selection of Smile Materials
Dental implants themselves are usually made from pure titanium or titanium alloys because of their biocompatibility with human bone and gum tissue. But the teeth that compose a patient’s new smile can be made of a variety of materials. The most exclusive is called Accelerset, individual ceramic crowns resting on a light weight robotically milled titanium frame with a bacteria resistant artificial gum tissue.
A lesser but also durable dental implant prosthesis is made of a fully milled titanium frame embedded in a single high density resin veneer.
A more traditional approach using porcelain baked on a precious metal frame remains an option, but because the teeth are all connected to one another, tends to be less natural in appearance than the Accelerset individual teeth.
Implant teeth can also be made from acrylic, the same composition as your grandmother’s dentures. This can be economic at the onset but durability makes repairs frequent. Some patients will choose this option in order to spread out cost and will invest in an Accelerset prosthesis later. One of the strongest advantages to dental implants is the durability of the implants themselves and the ability of replacing the smile as needed without any further surgical treatment. Titanium roots do not decay.
Digital Dentistry Has Revolutionized Care
CAD CAM Technology, robotic production, and the entry of biomedical engineering into planning the construction of smiles have all contributed to the predictable precision of fit and function. Even dentures, which were once considered dental doom, can now be digitally manufactured to fit comfortably, function successfully and appear much more natural than the former Chiclet look. They no longer “click” or move about in the mouth or fly across a table when blowing out birthday candles!
Digital dentistry has also minimized the invasiveness of treatment and the time a patient needs to spend in a dental chair. It has given the doctor digitally supported accuracy that results in the increased published outcomes of successful treatment. Digital guides (surgical templates), fabricated in advance of implant placement surgery, dictate ideal positioning for the implants and allow for the building the new smile with anatomic facial symmetry.