Your oral health and general health are strongly related. When something goes wrong in your mouth, it affects the rest of your body. Missing teeth compromise more than your physical appearance and self-esteem. While it may not seem like a major issue, even a single missing tooth can set off a chain reaction that causes major health problems further down the line.
Losing teeth is a common problem in Australia and is typically the result of injury, illness, genetics, or advanced-stage tooth decay. Missing teeth are a vicious cycle: commonly caused by health problems, they almost always lead to more. Luckily, there are options for restoring the look and functionality of natural teeth, and one of them is the All-on-4® treatment.
A technique pioneered by Dr Paulo Malo in 1998, All-on-4® is an advanced form of restorative dentistry that supports an entire bridge of new teeth on just four implants in either the upper or lower jawbone. For patients who have lost all or most of their teeth, All-on-4® provides a genuine-looking new set in just 24 hours.
If missing teeth have already impacted your jawbone’s density, All-on-4® reduces further bone loss. But that’s far from its only benefit. All-on-4® also improves overall oral health.
Next Smile Australia is the only All-on-4® clinic in the country personally endorsed by Dr Malo, and all of our treatments use his ground-breaking two-stage treatment process: ‘The Malo Protocol’. If you’ve been living with missing or badly damaged teeth for a while, All-on-4® can give you a fresh start and help keep a lot of dental problems at bay.
Here is the Next Smile Australia guide to how All-on-4® improves oral health and how it may benefit you.
Oral Health Issues All-on-4® May Improve
The long-term oral health risks associated with missing teeth include:
Jawbone atrophy
The roots of your teeth stimulate your jawbone to keep it strong. The loss of even one tooth means your jawbone no longer receives stimulation from that tooth. When the osteoblasts don’t receive the signal to keep the bone strong, osteoclasts begin to break down the bone. New bone can’t form at a rate that keeps pace with the resorption, and the jawbone starts to atrophy.
Typically, dental bone grafts are required to place dental implants in a jawbone with significant loss of density. However, All-on-4® completely avoids the need for bone grafting by targeting the strongest areas of the jawbone. The stimulation that All-on-4® provides prevents further decline of the jawbone.
Gum disease
Periodontitis, also called gum disease, damages the soft tissue around teeth. Usually caused by poor oral hygiene, periodontitis can lead to tooth loss and seep into the bloodstream to affect other parts of the body. Gum disease is linked with a number of other conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, coronary artery disease, and respiratory disease.
Even if you have advanced-level periodontitis, All-on-4® can provide you with a new smile. All-on-4® removes teeth that are damaged and decayed beyond repair and the plaque that has built up in hard-to-reach places. All-on-4® also minimises gum disease risk in the future. With All-on-4®, proper dental hygiene becomes far easier to practice.
Tooth decay
Tooth decay is the largest chronic illness in Australia, affecting as many as one in three adults over the age of 15 years. If your mouth has already been affected by serious tooth decay, All-on-4® offers you a clean slate. The All-on-4® prosthesis isn’t subject to tooth decay the same way regular teeth are, but it’s still necessary to practice proper dental hygiene and clean them as you would with natural teeth.
Chewing and digestion
If all or most of your teeth are gone, it restricts what you can and can’t eat, which can then lead to issues with your digestion. All-on-4® lets you enjoy a wide range of foods you could eat with your natural teeth. You’re free to eat a diet that caters to your tastes and any allergies or intolerances you have without the restrictions of missing or badly damaged teeth.
Speech issues
Along with your tongue, your teeth help you make the sounds you need for speech. Losing a tooth can make it difficult to pronounce some sounds. While you can adapt by changing the way you move your mouth, this can be hard work and cause fatigue from the use of unfamiliar muscles. All-on-4® lets you regain your natural way of speaking after the initial period of adjustment that comes with all restorative dental procedures.
Facial structure support
When you lose teeth, your face can take on a sunken appearance, particularly around your mouth. All-on-4® allows you to retain the natural, healthy-looking shape of your face.
All-on-4® reduces further bone loss, allows you to resume your natural way of speaking and eating and improves oral health in several different ways. It also has benefits beyond your oral health and can help prevent problems from forming elsewhere in the body.
The Link Between Oral Health and Overall Health
Your oral health is sometimes called “the window to your overall health.” Not only is it a place to observe health conditions elsewhere in your system, but it’s also a place where they often begin. Your mouth is the entry point to your digestive and respiratory systems, and bacteria that start in your mouth can end up in your heart and lungs.
Even one missing tooth leaves an open pocket in the gum that allows bacteria to seep in, potentially causing gum disease. Gum disease bacteria can travel to other parts of the body, causing infection of the heart’s valves and inflammation of its blood vessels. People with gum disease have two to three times the risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event.
Other health problems associated with missing teeth and gum disease include:
Endocarditis
Endocarditis complications from missing teeth are rare. But when they occur, they’re frequently fatal.
Pneumonia
When bacteria from the mouth reach the lungs, it can lead to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
Pregnancy and birth complications
Periodontitis has been linked with premature birth and low birth weight.
Your oral and overall health have a reciprocal relationship. Conditions such as diabetes, cancer and HIV/AIDS can make oral health problems more likely.
Book a Consultation with Next Smile Australia
Are you ready to take the first step to find out if All-on-4® is the right treatment option for you? If you’ve lost all or most of your teeth, have advanced-stage tooth decay or can’t have your teeth restored by other means, there’s a high chance that All-on-4® is the ideal option for you.
During our first consultation, a member of the Next Smile Australia team will assess your suitability for the treatment based on your background and the state of your oral health. Our technicians will custom-create a new set of artificial teeth for you in-house using high-quality Nobel Biocare materials, and our dental surgeons will provide you with your implants in one of our award-winning Super Clinics. We’ll carry out your treatment with the highest standards of care and the most advanced technology currently available.
If you’d like to find out more about the All-on-4® treatment or arrange a personal consultation, contact the Next Smile Australia team.