What is the All-On-4® Dental Implant Procedure?

To begin, Dr. Velasco will examine your overall health, your existing teeth, the health of your gums, and evaluate your jaw, bone density, and any bone loss. A surgical template of your teeth will be created so that our in-house lab can create your new teeth. Next, Dr. Velasco will extract any loose or unhealthy teeth. He then carefully places each arch in the mouth, securing them into the dense bone of the jaw. A set of temporary teeth are put in place where they will remain until the arches are fully healed. Once the procedure is complete, you will be free to go home. Over time, osseointegration will occur as your jaw and gums bond with the implants. In roughly three months, the healing will be complete, and your permanent teeth will be put into place.

Patients will need to arrive at the Uptown Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry office in the morning. During this appointment, Dr. Velasco will first work with his surgical team, extract all remaining diseased teeth, place four or five dental implants into your jaw bone and the in coordination with our in-house lab Dr. Velasco will create a mold for the new teeth. The complete procedure takes approximately two to three hours per arch. You will leave the office in the afternoon with a temporary set of teeth in place.

Depending on the individual patient, several different types of anesthesia can be used during the All-On-4™ Dental Implant procedure. These can include including IV sedation, orally administered sedation, or inhalation conscious sedation. Patients generally use full sedation provided by a board-certified anesthesiologist. It is the goal of Dr. Velasco and Uptown Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry to ensure you have a completely comfortable and safe procedure.

For those missing the majority of their teeth or struggling with poorly fitting dentures, the All-On-4™ will provide a life-changing sense of confidence and self-esteem. Your new implants will look and feel like natural teeth. You will also be able to eat anything with confidence, talking and smiling with your natural-looking teeth. Even better, the new teeth will continue to look great for years to come.

As the new teeth are directly connected to the implants, the recovery from the All-On-4™ procedure is easier than with many other implant methods. However, it is common to experience some swelling and bruising after the procedure. Before leaving the office, you will be given detailed instructions on taking care of your new teeth. For the first couple of weeks, you will have a special instruction pertinent to your health, diet and oral care. As the initial weeks pass, you will gradually regain all of your normal eating and hygiene habits until the implants fully heal. At Uptown Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry we will strive to guide you and help you during every step of the way.

Prepare for your initial recovery — You’ll want to lay low for a few days after your procedure. Get your bed or your recovery nest ready. Have lots of entertainment and books. You’ll want to keep your head elevated for the first few days, even when sleeping.
Expect to have some speech issues — If you’ve been missing all or most of your teeth, you’ve become accustomed to speaking without them. It will be different at first with your new teeth. You’ll have to get used to speaking, especially with some consonants; this is completely normal. Just be ready for it. Reading out loud is great training.
Prepare to eat a soft diet — Yes, you will have a full set of teeth for each arch when you return home late the afternoon of your procedure, but they aren’t ready to go out and buy a T-bone. You need to remember that your eight implants need time for the jawbone to grow around the implants — a process called osseointegration — making them a part of the jaw. This will happen, but it takes from 3-4 months. At first, you’ll be on a completely soft diet for a couple weeks. Then you can progress to finely cut up foods and cooked vegetables. We’ll give you a guideline to what you can eat when, but don’t be surprised at the caution you’ll need to exercise. Of course, if you’ve been missing most of your teeth, you’ve already had a very limited diet when it comes to eating hard or chewy foods.
Be kind to your temporary teeth — Just as with what you eat, don’t revert to chewing fingernails, chewing ice, opening packaging, and the like with your new temporary teeth. All of those habits need to go away for good.

Your All-On-4™ Dental Implant Prosthesis will soon give you the ability to eat anything. However, until your new arches have completely healed, you will need to be gentle, sticking with a soft diet and cutting easy to chew food into small pieces. In about three months, your dental implants will be completely integrated to your bone, at this point we can remove your temporaries and deliver your final permanent teeth.
Your permanent teeth can be fabricated from several materials, based on your preference. The final teeth can be made of a very dense polymer (Acrylic) reinforced with a Titanium framework, or they can be fabricated from Zirconia, which is a very strong ceramic. You can discuss with Dr. Velasco what is your best option or which one is your preference.

The cost of your All-On-4™ will depend on a variety of factors including the system and type of teeth used. During your consultation with Dr. Velasco and his office coordinator will determine the exact price of your All-On-4™. On average, the starting price for All-On-4™ Dental Implants will be about $18,500 and can go up to around $25,000.

Uptown Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry accepts a variety of payment types, including all major credit cards. We also accept financing through CareCredit, LendingClub, and Healthcare Finance Solutions. During your consultation appointment, you will speak with our treatment coordinator to learn more about each financing option or apply online through each lender.