All on 4 dental implants?

[m3jappa]

My teeth are bad

I think i have lost maybe 5 teeth in all and was recently told another will soon need to be removed. I was eating a sweet and a whole rear tooth literally sheared off, leaving a tiny little rotten stump bit. She said its a given this will have to be removed.

Gaps in upper front, rear chewing teeth missing.

Yellow, very wonky and also small stumpy little things, looks fking terrible.

Fortunately i have a face where my teeth are hidden so you wouldn't notice people are shocked when i show them.

I am not in the position right now to do anything but over the last few years i have obviously thought about implants, then veneers to give myself a rylan like appearance (ok, not quite that extreme ) but a nice set of white straight teeth would be good.

But it strikes me a bit like buying a damaged car thats been smashed up and doing the best you can to make things look right - but it never will be, it is surely making the most of whats there.

Then theres the fear that it seems that even though i brush 3 times a day my teeth just seem crap, when will another fall out? when will another need root canal? my dentist told me its just a case of some peoples teeth just aren't great, mine seem that way.

Which brings me to this all on 4 treatment.

My dentist says no way, removing all my good teeth is madness.

I do agree to an extent but i cant help but think surely this would be best, remove all the old st and replace with teeth which aren't real - no more rotten teeth, no more horrendous tooth aches and perfect rylan teeth. I am guessing that as i wouldn't technically have any teeth then i wouldn't have any issues (as long as the implants are done right).

It also looks a lot cheaper, looks like i could have upper and lower for 20k as opposed to my last quote about 3 years ago which was 27k! (that was for 5 implants, a brace then veneers, soon it would be 6 implants). its also a much quicker process.

Granted if it went wrong i might be in trouble.

So, anyone had this treatment? what do our resident dentists think?

[gregs656]

I think it was Matt who did a long thread on here about it. Have a search. Was quite interesting.

[Armitage.Shanks]

Here's Matt's thread on the very subject.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

FWIW my wife was forced down this route due to gum disease in her 20s where she ended up with a mouth full of crowns on the NHS. Given the persistent problems later in life she decided on the 'all on 4' for the top set which was approved and undertaken by the NHS at dental hospital, presumably because her condition was a medical and not cosmetic one. A bone graft was required where they took a piece from her leg presumably before synthetic bone was common place. At the time the 'design' was such that the denture clipped onto the abutments which was less than ideal. She then went private (UK) and had a permanent fitting (£3k) with the lower jaw all on 4 also being done (£10k).

My assessment is they are 'OK' and perhaps too perfect but in a natural shade that look authentic. Strength and bite wise they are as good as real teeth although I think 'All on 6' is the gold standard?

You are not absolved of oral health maintenance as cleaning between the gum is essential and she has 2/3 hygenist visits a year along with annual removal for specialist cleaning. Be advised that these dentures can chip/break and may need the occasional specialist repair - ideally by the dentist that fitted them which will be at your cost outside of any guarantee. And then at some point as your gum and mouth profile change you'll likely need a new set making so that's an on cost which could be mitigated by having them made abroad and a better material like zirconium for strength.

[Matt Harper]

I'm now 10 months post-surgery. Hopefully, my experience is typical - because everything went far better than I could ever have hoped.

I don't regret having it done for a second - I feel better, look better and can eat anything I care to - whereas previously I had to be a little cautious about hard foods.

The cost was outrageous (I live in the USA and had the surgery done here), but the results are impressive. I'm not sure how comparable they would be to a UK practice - I know I could have saved a lot by having it done in Mexico or Central/Eastern Europe - but it made sense to me, to be geographically close to the surgical practice in case of any post-operative issues or complications.

It's a big step, but a life-changing one, as far as I'm concerned.

Best of luck to you!