How to restore teeth and restore a smile

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We rarely think about how it is to be without teeth. The topic is almost indecent, and most people think that it is very long and painful to heal. But now there is an opportunity to return a smile in 1-2 sessions, even if there are no teeth left at all.

You don't have to be an old man to lose all your teeth. This can happen at any age. Someone is unlucky, and teeth fail quite early. In addition, sometimes teeth have to be removed. For example, with chronic gum disease.

When one or more teeth are missing, the patient has a choice. Bridges can be placed on adjacent teeth or single implants.

But the more the teeth are destroyed, the more difficult it is to choose a restoration method.

When there are almost no own teeth, screwing in classic implants is a kind of bullying. First, you need to heal the gums, restore the volume of bone tissue, carry out an operation to insert the implant, wait a few months, put an artificial tooth. And so many times, until it is possible to recreate a full row of teeth.

In case of major tooth loss and gum disease, bad teeth are removed in order to eliminate foci of infection and install dentures, removable or using the new All-on-4 technology - they help return to a full life.

How to buy new teeth

The most affordable replacement for lost teeth is removable dentures. The ones that used to be kept in glasses of water. Now, of course, prostheses have become lighter and of better quality, the false jaw is no longer a horror story. These dentures can be used without removing the remaining teeth.

This is the cheapest option, but it has enough drawbacks. For example, dentures are not securely fixed, they can fall out, it takes a long time to get used to them, because it is not always possible to recreate the bite. Due to the unusual bite, the severity of the dentures and unreliable attachment, speech is disturbed, painful sensations appear when chewing. The denture of the upper jaw blocks the palate and obstructs the taste buds, which makes food seem bland. Removable dentures must be removed and cleaned.

The most difficult thing is psychologically: the daily fiddling with dentures reminds us that the teeth are gone.

These are visible difficulties. There are also less visible, but no less important problems. Prolonged wearing of prostheses causes bone atrophy, because the load during chewing is not distributed correctly. This means that the chances of implantation of individual teeth are reduced.

How to put teeth on forever

It is possible to install fixed dentures on the entire jaw, and for this it is not necessary to place separate implants for many months in a row. There is a technology in which a fixed prosthesis is placed in one day. It is called All-on-4, that is, "all four."

Its meaning is that there are only four implants, and a prosthesis rests on them, which replaces the teeth of the upper or lower jaw.

The operation and placement of the prosthesis take only one day. And right after that, a person can put a gentle load on the teeth: eat, drink, smile and talk as usual.

After a few months, the implant takes root completely and the teeth can be fully loaded. If teeth have been lost for a long time, if the volume of bone tissue does not allow the placement of implants, if removable dentures are tired, then All-on-4 is just the technology that will bring a smile back.

How all teeth are retained on four implants

The All-on-4 method has been specially developed to be suitable for people with insufficient bone volume. Why is bone volume so important?

The implant can only be securely fixed in the bone. But the jaws are not monolithic bones, they have cavities. In the upper, these are the maxillary sinuses, which are connected with the nasal cavity, and in the lower, it is the mandibular canal, through which the nerves and blood vessels pass. If the volume of bone tissue is insufficient, then the implant will be inside these cavities, and this will lead to inflammation and foreign body rejection.

When a doctor has four points of support, he is more free to choose places for implantation. Therefore, it bypasses both the sinuses and the canal, that is, additional operations and costs for increasing the bone volume will not be needed. This is especially important for the elderly, in whom atrophy (that is, thinning) of the bone is more pronounced.

Lateral implants are inserted at an angle, anterior implants are inserted straight. This position and several points of support distribute the load evenly throughout the prosthesis so that it does not move and change shape, and does not cause painful sensations. In difficult cases, more supports are installed, for example six. But the meaning of the technology does not change, all the advantages remain with it.

How to prepare for denture placement

Any medical intervention has contraindications, for the installation of prostheses using the All-on-4 technology, the list is small:

1. Blood clotting problems.
2. Connective tissue diseases.
3. Immunopathology.
4. Malignant neoplasms in the active stage and during treatment.
5. Complex chronic diseases during an exacerbation.

And although observation of patients showed that when using the All-on-4 method, complications occur extremely rarely (more than 95% of implants take root, and problems are easily solved by dentists), the patient undergoes examinations and tests before the operation.

In case of gum disease, such implants can be placed.

Dentures are placed on the basis of computed tomography data, foci of infection in the gums are cleaned at the time of the operation to exclude inflammation around the implant.

The International Center for Dental Implantation "EspaDent" has been successfully using the All-on-4 technology for more than five years. The patients of the clinic are prepared for the installation of prostheses in a few days. If the tests have already been passed, it takes one or two days to carry out a computed tomography and prepare for the operation.

How is the installation of All-on-4 prostheses

The installation process itself takes one day. First, old teeth are removed, then implants are placed.

After that, casts are made, according to which the prosthesis is prepared. The EspaDent clinic has its own production, so the prosthesis will be ready in a few hours. It is immediately placed on the implants and processed.

New teeth from the first days feel like your own.

The operation is performed under local anesthesia or sedation, so there is no pain or fear. But consciousness is not lost, as with general anesthesia. At the end of the day or the next morning, the patient has new teeth. After 3-6 months, they can be fully loaded.

How to live with new teeth

10-14 days after the operation using the All-on-4 technology, you need to visit the clinic. Doctors check how the patient feels when the edema (which is inevitable when the implant is placed) passes. Then, just in case, the dentures should be examined at least twice a year. Considering that this is the usual schedule of visits to the dentist for prophylaxis, then there should be no difficulties.

After six months, the prosthesis can be replaced (instead of the composite one, put cermets or zirconium dioxide), but this is not necessary.

Dentures need to be looked after as for ordinary teeth: clean and remove plaque, use an irrigator and a brush. You don't need to take off your dentures, and it won't work. And this design will last for decades.

The clinic gives a five-year guarantee, and the responsibility for the quality of the operation is insured: if something goes wrong, all difficulties will be eliminated at the expense of the insurance company.

Where and how much to have the operation

Dentistry is an expensive industry, but All-on-4 prostheses are cheaper than the classic two-stage implantation, because there is no need to augment bone tissue and perform additional surgical interventions. Since dentures on four or six implants are different, the prices are different.

To choose the right technique and determine the price, make an appointment at EspaDent. This is the clinic recommended by Nobel Biocare - it was there that, together with the Portuguese professor Paulo Malo, All-on-4 technology was developed and clinical trials were carried out. The technology has been used for over 20 years in Europe and the USA.

Getting new teeth is easier than we used to think. It is enough to set aside a couple of days to visit a good clinic, certified according to the All-on-4 method.

The technique has contraindications, be sure to consult with a specialist.