Key Takeaways:
- All-on-4 implants are an implant-retained dental prosthesis that are a more recent development in dental implants.
- The expected lifespan of All-on-4 implants is around 20 to 25 years, with the possibility of lasting the rest of a patient’s life.
- A specialist in All-on-4 dental implant procedures can help prevent common causes of implant rejection.
- Good oral hygiene and overall health can improve the likelihood of successful All-on-4 implant surgery.
- Durable denture materials such as zirconia and porcelain are recommended to ensure the longevity of All-on-4 implants.
- Smoking and regular alcohol consumption can cause dry mouth and lead to implant rejection.
- A soft food diet for the first few months after surgery can help the implants fuse with jaw bone tissue.
- Teeth grinding can cause damage to denture materials, so it is recommended to treat it before getting All-on-4 implants.
How Long Does All-on-4 Last?
All-on-4 dental implants, with proper care and maintenance, can last for 20 years or more. The titanium implant posts, which are embedded into the jawbone, are designed to be permanent. However, the prosthetic teeth attached to these posts may require adjustments over time due to daily wear and tear. Even so, with appropriate care, the majority of these prostheses can last for 10 years or longer without any significant issues. It’s important to note that individual health factors and oral hygiene practices can influence the longevity of All-on-4 implants.
How to Make Your All-on-4 Last Longer
The same strategies that extend the life of implant-supported crowns and conventional dentures will work to keep your All-on-4 implants from failing. If the dentures split, replacing the prosthesis is relatively easy. Dental implant defects are more difficult to recover from, so follow these instructions to prevent an anchor break or jaw bone rejection.
- Choose the best implant dentist: A dentist specialising in dental implants, especially the latest All-on-4 procedure, will help you avoid almost all of the common causes of implant rejection.
- Maintaining your teeth: The more you care about your dentures and oral health, the less likely you are to experience injury or rejection. Dentures or implants still need regular brushing and rinsing. Maintaining healthy jaw bone tissue when contemplating an All-on-4 operation helps improve the likelihood of successful implant surgery.
- Improve your overall health: Issues with your circulation, immune system, or healing rate can affect your implants. Most patients seeking All-on-4 implants have severe dental problems that make feeding difficult. Soft and refined foods can alleviate oral pain, but they can also cause a loss of bone density in the jaw, making implant surgery more difficult. Taking the time to change your diet, address blood sugar or circulation problems, and improve your overall health will pay off by lowering your risk of dental implant failure.
- Choose a durable denture material: If you want all on 4 dentures to last as long as possible, stay away from plastic and acrylic. Zirconia and porcelain are much more robust, particularly if you hold your natural teeth on the upper or lower jaw. Natural teeth are extremely rough on denture and bridge materials made of plastic or acrylic, but porcelain and zirconia can withstand their abrasive forces without damaging the enamel.
- Stop smoking and regular alcoholic drinks: Smoking and consuming alcoholic beverages trigger dry mouth. Solid gums and fast healing after implant surgery need a good supply of saliva. Many years after you’ve healed, taking up a smoking or alcohol habit will stain your dentures and can cause implant rejection.
- Adjust your diet: For the first two to three months after surgery, you’ll need to eat only soft foods so the implants can better bind with the bone tissue in your jaw. Eating hard or sticky foods could pull on the implants, causing them to split. However, don’t restrict yourself to soft foods because chewing strengthens the bone tissue in the jaws, which helps to prevent it from shrinking around the implant posts.
- Treat teeth grinding first: Because grinding your teeth will wear away natural tooth material, it’s no surprise that it can also damage denture materials. When you grind, the pressures exerted on the implants raise the probability of a break or failure. If you can’t stop grinding your teeth at night, have your dentist fit you for a custom night guard that matches your dentures’ size and shape.
Your All-on-4 implants and dentures will last at least a decade, if not much longer if you take good care of them.
