You’ve been told you need All-on-4. Maybe it came out of a consultation, maybe an ad led you to one. Either way, it’s a big decision, because a full arch means removing whatever teeth you have left on that arch, and that can’t be undone.
All-on-4 is a very good treatment for the right patient, and sometimes it’s the best call. A second opinion is how you find out whether you’re that patient.
The short answer: a second opinion here comes down to two questions about the teeth you have. Are they well supported by bone? And how bad is the decay? Sometimes the answer is that All-on-4 is the right call. Sometimes some of your teeth are worth keeping. Either way, you’ll leave with every option that’s actually viable laid out.
Why a second opinion from us
We don’t place implants. A surgeon does the surgery, and we plan the case with them from the tooth side, then make the teeth that go on top and look after them for as long as you have them.
Because we don’t do the surgery, we don’t have a stake in which way you go. Our job is to lay out all the viable scenarios and help you make the best decision for you.
That’s not a knock on surgeons. We work with good ones, and it usually goes both ways: the surgeon examines you, we examine you, and then we build the treatment plan together. When a full arch is the answer, that’s where you’ll go.
The two questions that decide it
- Are the teeth well supported by bone? A tooth is only as good as what’s holding it. Gum disease takes the bone, and once it’s gone it doesn’t grow back.
- How bad is the decay? Some decay can be repaired. Some has gone so far that there isn’t enough tooth left to rebuild.
Teeth that pass both questions may be worth building around. Teeth that fail both usually aren’t.
When All-on-4 is the right call
Sometimes it’s clearly the best answer. When there’s little or no bone left supporting the teeth and they’re severely decayed, trying to save them doesn’t make sense, and a full arch can give you a stable, fixed set of teeth again.
Sometimes the cost makes sense too. When the teeth you’d be keeping are questionable, the money it takes to try to save them can be worth less than putting it into a full arch. If that’s where your mouth is, we’ll tell you.
When some of your teeth are worth keeping
If some of your own teeth are strong enough to build around, that’s worth knowing before anything comes out. Depending on what’s left, the options usually include:
- Rebuilding your own teeth and bite, with crowns, bonding and implants only where they’re needed. How a full mouth reconstruction works.
- Individual implants for the teeth that can’t be saved. Replacing a missing tooth.
- A bridge, when the teeth on either side of a gap are strong.
- An implant-supported denture, which snaps onto a few implants and comes out for cleaning.
We’ll compare them for your mouth, your bone and your budget, alongside All-on-4, before anyone recommends anything.
Derek’s story
Told All-on-X was his only option
The ask: After getting his life back on track, Derek went to a periodontist to get his teeth fixed. He expected All-on-X, and he thought it was his only option.
What we found: The periodontist thought some of his teeth could be saved and sent him to us for an exam. Derek was in his early thirties, and neither the periodontist nor Dr. Sandquist wanted to remove all of his teeth if they didn’t have to. So we looked at whether the decay on his front teeth could be restored.
The plan: It could. We built one plan together with the periodontist: we kept and restored his upper six and lower six front teeth, and implants replaced the teeth in the back.
Not every case goes this way, and sometimes a full arch is the better answer. But Derek still has his own front teeth because his periodontist asked the question before anything came out. More cases in the Smile Gallery →
What the visit involves
It usually starts with a comprehensive exam: an exam, photos, X-rays and a 3D scan, and a conversation about what we found. What your first visit involves.
Bring any and all records you have. The other office’s 3D X-ray, their treatment plan, any X-rays and photos. The more we can see, the more useful the second opinion is.
If you already have All-on-4 and it isn’t working
A broken bridge, worn teeth, screws that keep coming loose, an arch that traps food and can’t be cleaned, or a bite that was never right: we see all of these, and we can often fix them by designing a new bridge for the implants you already have. What a new bridge can’t fix is implants placed where the teeth can’t work around them. That needs a surgeon, and we’ll tell you up front. How we handle full arches, including ones done elsewhere. Had it done in Mexico or Turkey? What we see from work done abroad.
Where to start
Whether you’re weighing it, already scheduled somewhere else, or just want a straight answer about your own teeth, call 702-734-0776 or tell us what’s going on.
General education, and not a substitute for an exam.