Why Does My Jaw Pop When I Chew?
If you hear a popping sound when you chew, you may have a TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder. The good news is treatment options like laser dentistry can help. Read on to learn more.
The Many Benefits of All-on-4®
If you are among the 120 million Americans who are missing at least one tooth or the 36 million Americans who don’t have any teeth, you are all too familiar with the esthetic and practical issues surrounding missing teeth, not to mention how embarrassing it can be. The mere act of eating and chewing your food correctly can seem impossible. And the longer you go without replacing your missing teeth, the greater your chances of bone loss in your jawbone that can change your facial features.
Perhaps you considered dentures, partials, or dental bridges but couldn’t pull the trigger because it just didn’t seem to be the right choice for you. Fortunately, as the number of Americans experiencing missing teeth has grown over the years, so has the number of teeth replacement options. Think All-on-4® dental implants. Our own Dr. Marcano shares his insights on the many benefits of this game-changing variation on traditional dental implants.
What is All-on-4®?
You’ve probably heard about dental implants and how they are considered by many dentists and patients alike to be the gold standard for replacing missing teeth. All-on-4 is a specific type of dental implant that takes all the pluses of traditional dental implants, such as giving you an ultimate do-over, but then removes the notable downsides like time. As its name implies, All-on-4 replaces missing teeth using four implants to replace the entire top or bottom arch.
Each All-on-4 treatment plan is customized. The first step in the process is to decide if you’re a good candidate for the procedure by evaluating your jawbone’s quality and volume of your jawbone. In addition to a thorough oral examination, Dr. Marcano and the team review your dental health history and take a deeper dive using advanced 3-D imaging. With this data, Dr. Marcano and the team map out the optimal placement for your dental implants.
Expedited treatment schedule
Once the team finalizes the treatment plan, it’s go-time. After numbing you using a local anesthetic during your first appointment, the team places four posts into your upper or lower jaw instead of one post per missing tooth. On the surface, this small but critical nuance may seem inconsequential, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Although placing posts into the jaw is identical to what happens with a traditional implant procedure, the fact that you’re dealing with fewer incisions and posts expedites the entire procedure timeline.
Quicker recovery time
Following your first appointment, you’ll return home to heal and allow the implants to fuse to your jaw bone. Since the All-on-4 implant can replace a full arch of missing teeth with only four implants instead of up to eight implants that the traditional process requires, the pace of the recovery and healing period is quickened.
Once your mouth has healed, you’ll return for your second appointment, where Dr. Marcano takes digital impressions for the dental laboratory that will fabricate your implant-supported dentures. During your final appointment, when your prosthetic returns from the lab, Dr. Marcano attaches your implant-supported dentures to the posts, and you leave the office with the smile you always wanted.
Lower risk of surgical complications
Since the All-on-4 implant treatment procedure is a less invasive surgical option for replacing missing teeth, it lessens surgical complications. Patients enjoy an expedited timeline, quicker recovery, less risk for infection and complications, and a new smile.
At Orlando Center For Cosmetic Dentistry, we are all about providing our patients with the highest quality, most advanced treatments available. We offer a single appointment tooth replacement option called Ultratooth® as well as a fixed bridge implant procedure similar to All-on-4 called All-on-6®.
If you are missing teeth and would like to learn more about All-on-4 implants and our other teeth replacement options, request a consultation at Orlando Center For Cosmetic Dentistry. Schedule an appointment by clicking the online booking tool or calling the office today at 407-855-1471.
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