Full Arch Tooth Replacement

Do you have to turn to dentures if you need to replace all of your teeth?
Many of our Canterbury patients will have, or have had, an elderly relative who wore dentures. The more jovial of them probably rattled them in their mouth to scare you when you were very young. At one time, dentures were the only alternative to simply having a bare set of gums. These days though, dentures are not the only solution to replace multiple missing teeth.
One of the main issues that comes up when discussing dentures is the fact that they can sometimes become unstable, and this can also affect people’s choice of what they eat. They may like the taste of a steak, for example, but the difficulty of chewing it while wearing dentures often means that they give up in the end, and, in future, choose something easier to eat such as fish. Not everybody has this experience but it is far from uncommon.
Aside from dentures then, there are only two options available; the first is simply to remain toothless. This is unlikely to happen due to the problems with chewing food and the way it would look. Dentures would certainly be preferable to this. Bridges can be used to close gaps left by tooth loss but they need teeth either side of the gap to be attached to. This is not the case with full arch tooth loss.
This brings us to, what in the opinion of the team at Bradley and Partners is the best option available, namely dental implants.
Multiple tooth replacement
While a lot of people are familiar with the idea of a dental implant replacing an individual missing tooth, they might be surprised to hear that implants provide an excellent solution when the whole arch of teeth are missing. Even better news is that you don’t need to place an implant for every tooth that has been lost. This would require very extensive treatment and would also be very costly indeed.
Instead of doing this, a procedure known as ‘all on 4’ or ‘teeth in a day’ can be used. We will discuss this now.
Full arch implant replacement
If each individual tooth isn’t replaced by individual implants how is it done? The answer is that instead of using dentures, a full bridge of artificial teeth are used to replace the missing teeth. Unlike dentures though, these don’t simply sit on top of the gums, but are secured in the mouth by the use of implants that are placed into the jawbone.
While this does involve minor oral surgery, anyone concerned about the idea of something being put into the jaw will be pleased to hear that there should be no more discomfort than in most invasive dental treatments. Even so, it is understandable that patients would want to have as few implants placed as possible.
This is where the ‘all on 4’ or ‘teeth in a day’ procedure comes into its own. With the help of two special implants which are placed into the bone at an angle at the rear of the jaw, just two, or sometimes four other implants are needed to provide the base on which the fixed bridge can then be attached. Once the implants are placed and the bridge of replacement teeth attached, your treatment is complete.
In theory, you can now go home and start eating anything that you like. We advise though, that you start by eating soft foods. While eating harder foods won’t damage the implants in this particular instance, you should remember that you have just had minor surgery and there will be some soreness and discomfort for a while until the wounds start to heal. It makes sense then, to take things gradually and it won’t be long before you are treating your replacement teeth like natural ones, eating whatever you want.
Full arch aftercare
As with natural teeth or any restoration, follow up aftercare is essential to keep them in good condition.
Aside from being gentle on them for a while to help them ‘bed in’ well, some cleaning will be necessary. The biggest threat to dental implants is gum disease and specifically periodontitis and peri-implantitis. Both of these damage the bone and supportive tissues into which the implants have been placed. This can cause the implants to work loose and potentially fail. Make sure to follow any advice on aftercare given to you by our Canterbury implant dentists and then maintain good oral health on an ongoing basis.
One thing that you should not do when you have implants is to smoke. Smoking is a major contributor to gum disease and if you smoke and feel that you can’t give up, it is best to be clear about this to the dentist who may discuss alternative options with you.
Alongside quitting smoking, good overall cleaning around the implants and bridge are essential as are ongoing check ups at the dentist to make sure that everything is in good order.
This ‘all on 4’ method has proved successful and popular for many people and the feedback has been that it makes eating a lot easier and also avoids any embarrassment of loose dentures in the mouth. Cleaning is a lot easier too as you clean them in the mouth without the need to remove them for cleaning. This is not the case with dentures.
If you would like to discover more about the same day implant treatment or to discuss any replacement teeth options, please contact us today by calling Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic on 01227 463529.