There has been a lot of discussion recently about dentists placing dental implants with patients receiving teeth in a day.
You may be a candidate for dental implants in one day.
There are several coined phrases such as “dental implants in one day,” “immediate load,” “teeth in a day,” “teeth in an hour,” and “all-on-fours.” There is some truth about this and usually this treatment works well.
First, you’ll need to determine if there is room for implants. This means you’ll need x-rays (sometimes a panorex type) and sometimes a CT or CBCT scan. After determining that there is appropriate bone to place implants, your dentist will need to determine where the final teeth are going to be.
The procedure for teeth in a day
During the procedure, you’ll receive anesthesia while your dentist places the implant. They’ll confirm afterwards that the tooth was correctly placed and attach an acrylic tooth to the implant screw. The patient ends up with an acrylic, temporary restoration.
After a period of healing (usually 6 months), the dental lab will make a new restoration with a metal support bar inside it. This makes it stronger and able to hold more teeth. These “teeth in a day” restorations are very esthetic, can only be removed by the dentist, and can potentially last many years.
What’s different about teeth in a day
Conventionally, the old procedure was essentially the same work-up of the patient by the dentist. But instead of screwing the temporary restoration onto the implants immediately, you would wear a denture for 4–6 months while the area healed. When the implants had healed, the patient could decide between the screw-on restoration or one fused with porcelain to create a more natural looking tooth.
I believe that the success rate for this conventional procedure is slightly higher than the immediate placement procedure, and because there are less parts and less time it is usually less expensive.
Dental Implant Construction
Some people and some dentists believe that the porcelain fused to metal restoration is more esthetic; however it is definitely more costly. The acrylic based, screwed-on restoration, commonly referred to as a hybrid, is easier to repair but can wear out over time.
I am happy to recommend Dr. Stone. He is the best dentist of many I have endured. He is honest, wise, charming, his advice is always thoughtful and right. My implants are wonderful!”
-Marion G. Wells, August 10, 2014
The good news is that it is relatively easy to replace the teeth using the same metal bar restoration. If the porcelain fused to metal bridge has a problem, it could mean that all of the porcelain would need to be replaced which is usually a more time consuming procedure and is certainly more costly.
Teeth in a day—all in one place
A patient should know all of their options and all of the possible scenarios. Dr. Stone has placed dental implants for almost 30 years and he teaches dentists how to place and restore dental implants. We do the restoration and the surgery here in one office. Some offices do the restoration and send the patient somewhere else for the surgery.
There are some advertising campaigns designed to entice patients to the hybrid type of treatment at a reasonable cost. We do this same type of treatment plus the other porcelain fused to metal treatment, which many places don’t do. Additionally, although many offices don’t, we offer the benefit of performing both the restoration and surgery at our Ft. Lauderdale location.
If you are considering dental implants in Fort Lauderdale and teeth in a day, we encourage you to take a look at our before and after gallery, and contact us for a FREE dental implant consultation.
– John C. Stone, DDS, Cosmetic Dentist, Ft. Lauderdale
Dr. Stone teaches dental implant therapy to dentists in two different locations: Atlantic Coast Dental Research Clinic at Palm Beach College and Broward Dental Research Clinic at Broward College. He is a specialist in tooth replacement, a Prosthodontist, and has been placing dental implants surgically since 1991.
