The prevalence of total tooth loss among people 65 and older is almost 13%, and it continues to increase with age. Traditional dentures are a common solution for tooth loss, as they have a long history as an affordable tooth replacement option. However, dentures often cause problems like instability and limited chewing ability. Implant-retained dentures, in contrast, provide stability and comfort and improve your ability to chew. One method for securing dentures with implants is All-on-4. This method involves placing four conventional dental implants into the jaw to anchor false teeth. However, the process requires an invasive procedure and large, expensive implants, making it inaccessible to many patients with a limited jawbone or budget. Fortunately, there are other options that consider patient needs and finances. At East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, Dr. Zirakian offers All-on-4 alternatives like Fix-on-Six, which uses mini dental implants for better comfort, convenience, and cost!
Why Use Implant Dentures?
When you lose a tooth, you lose two vital parts of a tooth’s structure: the crown and the root. Your crown is the part of the tooth you see above your gumline. The root lies below the gumline and is embedded in your jawbone. These roots stimulate the bone when you chew or bite, which prevents your jawbone from losing density and structure.
Traditional dentures don’t replace these roots, leaving your jawbone to lose mass and volume over time. As the bone changes, the lower denture, which rests on the gums and jawbone, will stop fitting properly and may become unstable.
Implant dentures, however, use dental implants to hold your artificial teeth in place! These titanium posts act as artificial tooth roots, maintaining jawbone health and supporting your new set of pearly whites. These stable foundations keep your dentures in place, allowing you to smile confidently and chew all your favorite foods!
We can anchor implant dentures with traditional dental implants or mini dental implants. However, many patients with complete tooth loss don’t have enough bone to support traditional implants.
Why Do You Need All-on-4 Alternatives?
The All-on-4® placement method involves placing four conventional implants in the jawbone. These implants create a strong foundation for a denture, providing a beautiful and functional smile. However, this method has problems due to the type and number of implants used.
All-on-4 uses traditional implants, which are titanium posts around 5 millimeters in diameter and composed of multiple parts. To place these implants, Dr. Zirakian first makes an incision in the gums to reveal the bone underneath. Then, he uses a series of increasingly larger drills to create a hole big enough for the implant to fit. Once the implant is in the bone, he stitches the incision back up and waits for the surgical site to heal. Afterward, he reopens the gums and places the abutment—the piece that secures the denture to the implants.
This method provides a secure foundation but comes with some challenges. It requires invasive surgery, followed by months of healing and multiple appointments to complete the process. The design of traditional implants can also create small gaps between components, allowing bacteria to collect and increasing the risk of infection and peri-implantitis.
At East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, Dr. Zirakian offers All-on-4 alternatives that reduce the risk of infection and implant failure while being more affordable: Fix-on-Six® with mini dental implants.
The Benefits of Fix-on-Six as Your All-on-4 Alternative!
In contrast to All-on-4®, Fix-on-Six® uses 6 to 10 mini implants to secure dentures.
Mini dental implants are smaller than traditional ones, measuring less than 3 millimeters in diameter. Because of their small size, these implants use less bone, making them a more accessible option for those with bone loss. These narrow-diameter implants are also built as a single piece, which allows Dr. Zirakian to place them in a single appointment!
The mini dental implant procedure is simple and minimally invasive, requiring no incisions or stitches! Instead, Dr. Zirakian creates a small pilot hole in the gums and jawbone. He then carefully drills the implant into the bone through the hole. Additionally, these one-piece implants can support temporary restorations immediately, so you never walk away from a mini implant procedure without teeth!
After your procedure, you can trust your new teeth to function reliably. The Fix-on-Six method uses 6-10 mini implants in your jawbone to evenly distribute bite pressure. As a result of this even force distribution and their one-piece design, mini implants have a low risk of failure from excessive force or peri-implantitis.
Thanks to their simple and effective placement method, mini implants provide a much more comfortable, gentle, and affordable tooth replacement experience!
Find Comfortable and Convenient All-on-4 Alternatives In Fix-on-Six!
If you’re missing a full arch of teeth, you don’t need to settle for unstable dentures or invasive and expensive traditional implants. Consider mini dental implant-retained dentures! With the Fix-on-Six method—an All-on-4 alternative—Dr. Zirakian can give you a beautiful, stable smile at an affordable price.
Schedule a complimentary exam and consultation today and take the first step toward a better smile!
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