Who Is The Best Candidate For All-On-4 Dental Implants?

Losing your teeth can take a significant toll on your self-esteem. However, sometimes, dentures alone are not enough to fully restore your self-confidence. Dentures can move, shift, and come out when you don't want them to. Further, partial dentures can oftentimes have wholly visible clasps that may prevent you from feeling confident enough to smile widely. All-on-4 dental implants offer a solution for individuals who are not happy with their dentures, but not every person is the best candidate for the procedure. Take a look at a few signs you may be a good candidate to undergo the all-on-4 dental implant procedure.  

You Are Missing Most or All of Your Teeth on the Upper or Lower Jaw  

All-on-4 implants are typically reserved for those who have lost either most or all of the teeth on one arch. For example, if you have lost all your teeth on the upper jaw or only have a few molars left, you may be a good candidate. However, if you still have most of your natural teeth and have only lost a few, all-on-4s may not be the best option. 

You Should Have a Sufficient Structure Remaining in Your Jawbone 

All-on-4 dental implant procedures rely on the patient having a sufficient amount of jawbone remaining to install the four anchoring implants. If you do not have enough bone remaining for the new implants to anchor to, you may need a more extensive restoration plan. For instance, you may need to have bone grafts performed and allow those to heal before the procedure can be done. 

You Are Not a Good Candidate for Other Types of Restoration  

Some patients are better candidates for other types of smile restoration. For example, if you are only missing a few teeth in one arch, you may be a better candidate for single-tooth dental implants to simply fill in the missing gaps. Likewise, it may be more feasible for some patients to obtain a dental bridge. 

You Don't Have a Medical Issue That Inhibits Healing  

For the all-on-4 implant procedure to be successful, the bone and soft tissue of your mouth must properly heal. Unfortunately, some patients have medical conditions that slow the normal speed of the healing process. For example, an individual that has highly unstable blood sugar levels may not heal properly. This can put you more at risk of developing an infection or for the implants to be rejected.