My “All on 4” implant journey

After much agonizing research, I decided on Radiance (Dr Iskandar) for my full mouth restoration. I visited a few places and selected Dr Iskandar because of his sincere nature and the clear investment he has made in his business. He is in it for the long haul and will hopefully be around for many years after my process is completed. It is important to me that I can use this dentist for many years.
I also wanted a practice that could manage my husbands care as well. Radiance also offers general dentistry. The office is beautiful and brand new. The location is ideal for me as it is on a major highway that runs close to my house. It is actually in an area where many highways meet, near DFW. It’s adjacent to one of my favorite stores (Daiso) which is kinda nice.
I currently have 19 teeth. 6 are natural the rest are crowns. All my uppers are aging crowns.
One by one, my teeth are failing and will crack. The only option is to remove the tooth. This is how it’s been for a while. I have good bones, gums and my mouth is currently healthy. It’s really hard to see that I have no molars but my teeth are starting to shift and buck in the front.
I can pay thousands here and thousands there for a temporary solution, get individual implants as needed and deal with every tooth as the crown fails or I can do the most radical option, full arch restoration. Every option is expensive. Full arch restoration will end my problems (I hope) and give me a nice smile, to boot.
So Tuesday (12/19) I go in for impressions and I plan to have extractions, implants and temps in January. Crystal Ultra arches will finish my restoration somewhere around June.
I’m scared and excited.
I plan to keep track of it all here, RealSelf really helped me with my research. I will also do a YouTube channel to track my progress.

I hope I am adding to this correctly... I’m thinking I am not because it’s not asking me pre/post date info. I may have to move this elsewhere at some point. Anyhoo, I went in to get my impressions. Lots of activity going on around me during the visit. Frank first. He’s such a nice guy. I keep waiting for hard sell, pressure, slick sales-y stuff. Nope. It is what it is, no smoke and mirrors. Sorted out some last questions and off I went for facial orientation pics, I may have that name wrong. They scan my face and use it for various things during this process. I was taken into the procedure room and Dr Iskandar spent a long time with me about the shape of my temps. He’s just such a nice, sincere man. He is never in a rush and it’s not just for show. I talked to another very nice employee and then the dental assistant (I must remember her name, such a sweet girl) started the impressions. I was a bit concerned as my past impressions have been handled roughly with huge metal trays that hurt and made me gag. She is a dainty woman so I knew she would not be rough. It was a breeze. The impression stuff has no taste to me, but a bit of a strange smell that I kind of liked. It was familiar. In any event all that was over in 5 minutes and I didn’t lose a crown, which was a huge fear. I hear back out to Frank to schedule the procedure. Jan 19, 2018. The countdown begins. I KNOW I picked the right doctor. All of the doctors I looked at were within 5k of each other. I knew I didn’t want to go to a chain and I really didn’t like the demeanor of another one I visited, he did not project the warmth and compassion I was looking for. Dr Iskandar literally oozes compassion and warmth. He is a nice man and I feel he is a good man. His staff is warm and compassionate. They all seem to enjoy their jobs. All these details matter. I know I am in good hands and I can’t wait!!!