Deciding Between All-on-4 Or Traditional Dental Implants

Question submitted by: Derek

I need to get a full set of dental implants. If I get the all-on-4 it will save me a bone grafting procedure. But, someone is telling me that all-on-4 isn’t as safe. Now I’m torn. Would I be better off if I got the bone grafting and regular implants instead? Any advice you can give me would be appreciated.

Derek

Dear Derek,

I am glad you wrote. I would not say that there is a difference in safety with the two procedures. However, they each have their pros and cons. The pros for the traditional route, with implant supported dentures, is that you will have more bone structure after the grafting. Plus, if something goes wrong with one of the implants, you can just deal with replacing the part that went wrong. The cons are that it adds an additional surgery and a few months to your treatment because you have to wait on the grafting to heal.

For the all-on-4 procedure, the pros are that you don’t have to have bone grafting done, plus you can pretty much get some dentures the same day. The cons are that if one piece of the unit has a problem, you can’t just replace that piece. Instead, you have to replace the entire unit.

Dental implants are an advanced procedure. Dental school is not enough. You will need to look for someone who has post-doctoral training. There are countless dental implant horror stories from people who went to an unqualified dentist and ended up with massive infections and even bone problems.

Be aware that even if a dentist has dental implant training, that does not mean they can also do the all-on-4 procedure. That is a special procedure with a completely different technique. If that is the procedure you decide on then you will want to make sure they have that specific training as well.

This blog is brought to you by Tucson Prosthodontist Dr. Howard Steinberg.