Please Help Me Smile Again
March 18, 2011 4:38 PM Subscribe
Has anyone had the All-On-Four dental implants procedure done?
Do they really feel and function like real teeth? How difficult is the procedure, including recovery?
I am scheduled to have this done in a couple of weeks. Extractions, implants, teeth... all in one day.
Do they really feel and function like real teeth? How difficult is the procedure, including recovery?
I am scheduled to have this done in a couple of weeks. Extractions, implants, teeth... all in one day.
Everything for the implants done in a day?
I am in the middle of healing for 3 implants. It's been months. I had one extraction, and 3 implants (posts) placed in one day. After that, it's been healing. I believe I had the implants placed in early November, and I'm getting teeth in April sometime. In my case, the posts need to heal to the bone so they can function like real teeth. I'm getting them done at Tufts Dental School in Boston, and everyone is doing an excellent job. They take my insurance, and the cost is less than half of a traditional dentist. But I can't see how they would do everything in one day.
That said, there is a great feeling of finally getting my teeth taken care of, after years of neglect or fear of dentistry. My situation was better than most (good front teeth, decaying molars due to abandoned root canals). But I can't tell you how great I feel to have it almost all done. Best of luck to you.
posted by santaliqueur at 5:53 PM on March 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
I am in the middle of healing for 3 implants. It's been months. I had one extraction, and 3 implants (posts) placed in one day. After that, it's been healing. I believe I had the implants placed in early November, and I'm getting teeth in April sometime. In my case, the posts need to heal to the bone so they can function like real teeth. I'm getting them done at Tufts Dental School in Boston, and everyone is doing an excellent job. They take my insurance, and the cost is less than half of a traditional dentist. But I can't see how they would do everything in one day.
That said, there is a great feeling of finally getting my teeth taken care of, after years of neglect or fear of dentistry. My situation was better than most (good front teeth, decaying molars due to abandoned root canals). But I can't tell you how great I feel to have it almost all done. Best of luck to you.
posted by santaliqueur at 5:53 PM on March 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
I can't imagine it all done in a day. Seriously. You need to heal before you can put that much pressure on it (chewing is a LOT of pressure). That was the procedure my mother had done that all went horribly wrong later, but she had to heal for months before she could have the dentures affixed.
It was 20+ years ago, so I suppose it's possible that technology has improved. Unlikely, but possible. Please get a second opinion. Especially if you're doing it in a non-standard place, like doing dental tourism.
posted by clone boulevard at 6:55 PM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
It was 20+ years ago, so I suppose it's possible that technology has improved. Unlikely, but possible. Please get a second opinion. Especially if you're doing it in a non-standard place, like doing dental tourism.
posted by clone boulevard at 6:55 PM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all for your replies and suggestions - much appreciated. It's quite a popular procedure, and not all that new. They really do everything in one day. However, for such a popular alternative to traditional implants, I can't find anything online other than dental ads... the only patient review I have been able to find is this one http://chrysalisdentalimplantspatient.blogspot.com but I think I'm going to have the surgery before this person finishes theirs, so that doesn't really help me much. I was really hoping to hear from someone who had gone through it all already, recovery and all. I'm very nervous about the whole thing.
posted by iNurtureTheOdd at 5:27 PM on March 19, 2011
posted by iNurtureTheOdd at 5:27 PM on March 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
If one of the four implants fails then the whole thing has to be done over? The inventor, who has moved on, is quoted as finding this unacceptable. I would think that if it was done right, the appliance could be drilled off, leaving the remaining implants to be used again. Or maybe the five on one is worth looking into.
(The five in one wouldn't really help much, if any one of the four failed, the appliance would still have to be removed to attend to that.)
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:32 PM on March 18, 2011