We take our teeth for granted until something goes wrong. Dentures aren’t always the best alternatives. They fall out and can even interfere with taste. As Beatrice Politi reports, there is now a new procedure that can give patients their teeth back in one day.

After 38 years of wearing dentures, Rosa Marcellino has taken her teeth off for the last time. She is about to get permanent dental implants in just one day. It’s called the “All on 4” method. We use the technique to replace missing teeth or failing teeth in one day, using four to six implants in the upper or lower jaw. This is how it works: Marcellino’s lower dentures come out, her remaining teeth are removed, and then four implants are inserted into her jaw. The new teeth are then custom-shaped to ensure they fit properly on the implants. Marcellino has her upper teeth done a while ago and experienced no pain. Now, her mouth is complete.

The ‘All on 4’ technique has been around for about a dozen years. It has been used in this clinic for five years. Our implant success rate with this technique is about 98%, which is right up there with other conventional methods. Conventional methods can involve six to ten implants and bone grafting, which is taking bone from another place in the body to put in the jaw to hold onto those implants. Unlike the one day method, this process can take longer than a year.