All-on-4 vs dentures: how they compare

• Eating. With fixed teeth on implants, most people eat a normal diet. With a traditional denture, hard, sticky and chewy foods are difficult, and the denture can move when you bite.
• Speaking. Fixed teeth don't move when you talk. A denture can slip or click until you learn to hold it in place.
• The roof of your mouth. A fixed upper arch leaves the palate uncovered, so food tastes the way it should. An upper denture covers it.
• Confidence. No adhesive, no taking your teeth out at night, and no worrying about them moving in company.

Without tooth roots, the jawbone under a denture slowly shrinks. The denture loosens over time and needs relining, and the lower face can lose some of its support. Implants carry chewing forces back into the bone, which helps preserve it.

• All-on-4: brushed in place, cleaned underneath with a water flosser, and checked at maintenance visits, when we take the bridge off to clean it and check the implants.
• A denture: taken out and cleaned every day, kept moist overnight, relined as the gums change, and replaced over the years.

A denture costs less up front, but it needs relines and replacement over the years. All-on-4 costs more at the start and is designed to last many years; like any restoration, the teeth on top may need repair over time. What affects the cost of full-arch implants explains each factor, and financing can spread the cost into monthly payments.

Many people move from a denture to fixed teeth. The longer teeth have been missing, the more the bone may have shrunk, so a scan sooner rather than later keeps more options open. A snap-in denture on implants is a middle step for some people.

Full-arch consultations are free and include an exam and a 3D CBCT scan. See All-on-4 dental implants.