Dr. Gonzales (in Dr. Holtzclaw’s office) did my surgery nearly 3 weeks ago. It seems he is mostly in their San Antonio office. I had some issues with my bite and a minor swelling inside my mouth and saw Dr. Holtzclaw for those folllow ups. He spent a lot of time with me getting my bite just right, even though my appointment was last minute. He definitely knows his stuff and he’s so professional. Being very new to this recovery process, he definitely put my mind at ease! I’d recommend him in a heartbeat. I have no doubt he is the best in town, if not the state!
Thank you Dr. Holtzclaw for giving me back my smile, my confidence, and helping me to eat once again! I got the teeth in one day implant surgery with Dr. Dan. One of the best decisions I ever made.a
Once upon a time, I wore upper and lower partial plates. I hated them! Then I met Dr. Holtzclaw! While other dentists told me it couldn't be done, Dr. Holtzclaw gave me a full set of new teeth with implants. 8 years later they are still going strong! Just look at my xray from my last check-up!
All on 4 style dental implant treatment is one of the most successful dental implant procedures available. This is not simply conjecture, it is published fact. Studies evaluating traditional dental implant treatment show success rates that range from approximately 93-98%. Studies evaluating All-On-4 style dental implant treatment typically show success rates in the range of 98-99%. Why the higher success rate for All-On-4 style implant treatment? First of all, this treatment allows all of the implants to be splinted (attached) together allowing them to work as a team rather than individual implants. Second, the back implants are angled in relation to the front implants which creates a "truss" effect very similar to the trusses that are used in traditional bridge building (bridges that cars and trains drive on!). Same design concept.
All on 4 style dental implant treatment costs vary depending on your location in the country, the clinic, and the type of materials used. For example, in some parts of the country, an All-On-4 can cost upwards of $70,000 for both jaws while it can cost as little as $36,000 in other parts of the country for the same exact treatment. Some clinics that use a "team" (ie. your regular dentist refers you to an outside specialist and they work as a team to do your case) approach will typically charge quite a bit more because they have more people involved in the case...everyone has to get paid; they are not working for free. Plus, you have to remember to include the outside lab they are using which is going to add even more cost. If you go to an All-On-4 specialty clinic such as ours, your costs will typically be less as we are able to do everything in house without having to involve outside parties. We have our own specialists, our own anesthesiologists, our own lab, etc. This helps keep the costs down. Plus, because we do this all day, everyday, we are able to get better pricing on dental implants. There are a handful of All-On-4 style specialty clinics like ours around the country. I am sure that there is one in your area. While $45k may seem expensive, it is actually about 37% less expensive than traditional full mouth dental implant treatment. A study was published by Babbush analyzing this a few years back.
At one month out from surgery, it is possible to have some numbness and tingling in the chin. When the lower All-On-4 surgery is performed, there is alot of tissue stretching that takes place when reflecting around the mental foramen and that can sometimes lead to temporary chin numbness and/or tingling. If the area in question is just limited to your chin, then you are likely having this exact issue. Mental foramen/loop issues usually involve a silver dollar size area on the chin. Now, it your entire lip, chin, and/or tongue is numb, that is a bigger issue. The other question to ask is "Is the tingling and/or numbness changing or getting better over the past month?" If so, that is good. Things are healing and should continue to get better. If there is absolutely no change, that is a bit more worrisome. Again, always best to let your doc know what is going on. Have them take a catscan to make sure everything is looking ok nerve wise in relation to the implant positioning.
Your case can easily be transformed into what you are looking for. Best bet would be to schedule an appointment with a prosthodontist first. They can analyze your smile and bite and plan accordingly. In most offices, they can even give you a digital smile design preview of what restorations would do for your smile. Just make sure you see someone who is competent and comfortable with full mouth restoration cases.
The flipper is a temporary fix. It is really designed for looks so you don't have to walk around with a tooth missing. It really won't help you in chewing food too much. It will keep the back tooth from shifting forward, so that is good. Over time, if you do not get an implant, the bone in the area of the missing tooth will begin to dissolve away and may get to a point where there is too little bone for an implant. The majority of bone loss happens in the first year of the tooth being out. As for smoking, that really has minimal affect on modern implants. Now, back in the 1990's, smoking caused a bit lower success rate with dental implants. With modern implants, there are multiple studies that show implant survival rates in smokers are very close to non-smokers. I certainly have tons of smokers as patients and all I do are implants all day, every day. They have no higher failure rate in my practice compared to non-smokers.
