All-on-4 in Greenville: Same-Day Smile Restoration

If you're missing most of your teeth, or you've been struggling with a denture that won't stay put, All-on-4 is probably worth a look. Our Greenville office on Traders Road has been placing All-on-4 for over a decade. Here's what the procedure is, what the day looks like, and what we've learned from running these cases out of Hunt County for that long.

What All-on-4 actually means

The name is literal. Four implants per arch. Together, they hold a full set of fixed teeth that don't come out. No denture cup, no adhesive, no soaking overnight.

The reason it is only four is geometry. Two implants go in the front of the jaw, angled forward. Two go in the back, angled to dodge the sinus or the nerve. That angle spreads the bite force across the arch and lets us use bone that is already there, instead of grafting.

For most patients, it means a single surgery day instead of a multi-stage rebuild.

What happens the day of surgery

The morning visit takes about three hours per arch. You arrive, we walk through the surgical plan one more time, and we get you comfortable with IV sedation. For patients flying in from out of state, and we get a lot of those at our Greenville office, we coordinate with a driver or family member ahead of time so you have a safe ride home.

We remove any remaining teeth that need to come out, place the four implants, and attach a fixed temporary set of teeth that you leave with. You eat soft food that night. By the next morning, most patients are surprised that the pain is less than they expected after losing this many teeth at once.

The healing period

The temporary teeth do their job for three to four months while the bone fuses to the implants. You can chew with them. You should stick to softer food early on and ease into firmer textures.

After healing, we replace the temporary set with the final restoration. The final teeth are made to your facial proportions, your bite, and your smile line. The result looks like a row of natural teeth, not the rounded denture look most people picture when they hear "false teeth."

Who All-on-4 works well for

It works well for people who:

• Have lost most teeth in one or both jaws
• Wear dentures and are tired of the slipping
• Have widespread gum disease and the remaining teeth aren't worth saving
• Want a fixed solution and want it done in fewer visits than a traditional implant rebuild

It works less well for people who still have most of their teeth and a few problem spots. In those cases, individual implants are usually a better fit.

What recovery is honestly like

The first two days are the heaviest. Most patients take prescription pain medication for 24 to 48 hours, then switch to ibuprofen. Swelling peaks at about 72 hours and is gone within a week.

You drive yourself to work, on average, within 3 to 5 days. You are back to normal eating within 2 to 3 months as the bone settles.

A few things to know before you book a consult

We do CBCT imaging at the consultation, so you see your own bone, your own sinus, and the planned implant positions on a screen on the first visit. We also discuss whether All-on-4 is the right answer or whether something else fits better. We've turned patients away from All-on-4 when individual implants made more sense, and we'd rather have that conversation honestly than book a case that doesn't fit.

If you are in the Greenville area, or driving in from Sulphur Springs, Commerce, or Rockwall, call our Traders Road office to schedule a CBCT consultation. We work through your options before any commitment.