The History of All-on-Four Dental Implants

In the 1950’s, Proff Branemark discovered osseointegration which has led to the All-on-Four Dental Implants known today. Osseo means bone and integration means to become one.

Osseointegration is the biological process of the bone and the titanium of dental implants fusing together. This method requires the body to accept this titanium material as being its own.

After Branemark made this discovery, he completed the first application in an oral cavity in 1965. It was not a single tooth implant. This first procedure surprisingly was a full arch case involving numerous fixtures.

Most procedures in the 1970s and 1980s focused on restoring oral function, so almost all studies revolved around full arch clients.

In retrospect, this focus may have been misplaced. Some would say the focus should have been on making a single tooth implant work before trying to make a full arch work.

However, this thought would be wrong. It was beneficial to do a full set of replacement teeth because this provided support by the posts linking everything together. The whole arch procedure also offered a biomechanical advantage.

The cross-arch of the implant allows the pressure associated with implants to be distributed more evenly reducing the forces on each fixture. When this pressure is reduced, it will enable the dental implants to integrate with the bone without outside interference.

Another factor to consider is losing a single tooth is not as significant as losing multiple teeth. When the biomechanical advantage is combined with this vital issue, it can be agreed the benefits of a full arch replacement dramatically outweighs the benefits of a single tooth replacement.

Over time, the idea of osseointegration has become the most researched topic in dentistry. Today, dental implants are routine in most practices.

Many believe that implants have a more predictable outcome than a variety of other treatments. The success rate is between 95% and 98% for implants which is higher than most other day-to-day procedures. The survival of the implant is how the success rate is determined. Some would argue that function, long-term oral health, and aesthetics must be considered when speaking of oral success.

Sometimes an oral implant survives but comes with extensive treatment processes or broad cleaning regimes. Occasionally, dental implants have poor aesthetics also.These issues lead to a team at the All on Four dental implant Los Angeles clinic to focus on case success instead of implant survival. This focus was placed on four particular aspects to create the All on Four Dental Implants.

The first aspect was the number of fixtures. For many years, six to twelve fixtures were used to support the prosthesis. The idea was if one or two fixtures failed, there would be others to help to continue to provide support.

Over time, it has been determined that this amount of fixtures prevent the patient from cleaning correctly. Cleaning is ineffective because the patient is unable to locate all of the gum interfaces that need cleaning. The All-on-Four Los Angeles experts decided using only four fixtures with two in the front and two in the back of the jaw would ensure proper cleaning.

Using only four fixtures in specific locations helps the patient locate the submerged fixture which also helps ensure effective hygiene. Four fixtures are enough for most patients, but in some situations, more may be required.

The second aspect focused on was implant-angulation and the evolution of All-on-Four dental implants. All-on-Four Los Angeles placed the two back implants at a predetermined angle. Angulated implants help to eliminate anatomical limitations. When teeth and bone loss occurs, the first step is to replace the bone that has been lost. When building up this lost bone, the space available for the replacement teeth is significantly reduced.

The third focus of All-on-Four dental implants was to re-shape the jawbone. This reshaping is done by flattening the residual bone that was uneven. The last focus point was to lessen the amount of time it took to replace the teeth. Today, dental implants can be attached within just a few days. Focusing on these four aspects of teeth replacement has allowed the All-on-Four Los Angeles to become the process of today.

For more information about All-on-Four dental implants, contact Southland Dental Care at 818-788-8787 today for a dental consultation. Financing and low monthly payments are available.

Published On: November 7th, 2017 / Categories: dental implants /