The “All-on-4” procedure is for patients who have lost all their teeth and
have an adequate amount of bone to maintain dental implants. This system is not ideal for those with an extensive amount of bone loss. "All-on-4" for edentulous jaws is a treatment procedure that uses tilting posterior implants. This facilitates an optimal support for an acrylic bridge that can be fabricated and functioning within just a few hours after surgery.
"All-on-4" is based on Nobel Biocare's pioneering Immediate Function™ capability.
Dr. Kupeyan views this procedure as an entry level into dental implant therapy. Most often the initial prosthesis (teeth that fit over dental implants) is fabricated in an acrylic material. In our practice we have found that acrylic only has a lifespan of six months to one year. After this it needs to be remade or the patient procedes to the next and final phase of treatment which is a titanium framed final prosthesis.
Here is a panographic x-ray of the four angled implants that have been placed.
You can see above that the implants are highly angled. But notice that the exposed tips of the dental implants, the part sticking out of the bone, are all pointed upward and are relatively parallel.
On the right you can see that when the denture is screwed on, the screws are all placed normally, because the angulation all occurs under the surface of the tissue.
On the right you can see that when the denture is screwed on, the screws are all placed normally, because the angulation all occurs under the surface of the tissue
This technique isn't without its critics. After thoroughly studying the all-on-four technique, there are various concerns. If one of the implants fails, the entire
mouth has to be re-done, this can be an unacceptable, delaying treatment time.
