G4 Implants All On Four

I started having a lot of dental problems around 26-28 years old from an eating disorder I developed at 16. It lasted until I was 28. I had nice teeth before and didn't realize it was destroying the enamel on my teeth. By the time I knew what was happening, it was too late. I was rapidly losing my back teeth, once that happened, my other teeth starting shifting. I didn't have dental insurance and couldn't afford a dentist until I was 34. I saved up several thousand hoping I still could save my teeth and maybe get partials for the back. I made an appt with a local dentist and found out nothing could be done to save my bottom teeth. I had some work done to my top teeth to hold me over until I could do more. The dentist told me that I really needed to get them all pulled and get dentures. I had a panic attack in the dentist office because that was one of my biggest fears. I was not ok with having removeable teeth at my age. And I knew that it would cause tremendous bone loss in the jaw and change the shape of my face. So I suffered with my teeth for almost 6 more years while saving as much money as possible. It was very difficult to eat, I had abscesses every few months, and was in pain all the time. I was embarrassed to talk or smile, it was just a nightmare. I researched Golpa throughout all these years wanting so badly to be able to afford going to him, but I didn't believe it would happen. I originally planned on going to Costa Rica for all on four, but was so worried about going out of the country for something like this. I drove a cheap car I bought off craigslist to continue saving money and finally at 40, I had enough saved up to go to Dr Golpa. I called the Virginia location in April 2020 and made my Appt for May 26, 2020. I was there for 3 days for my procedure. First day, was consult day. Second day, surgery to remove my teeth and put in implants. Third day, was bridge installation. I had some soreness and swelling but never any severe pain and all I took was ibuprofen bc I had a problem with prescription painkillers before and didn't want to risk taking them. I went back after 6 months for a check up on my implants and bridge adjustment. They ended up making me new bridges bc my first set was a little big for my mouth and they were adding molars. First new set they made didn't fit my face at all...it was way too small and aged me, so they sent me back to the hotel for 24 hours and had me come back the next day for another set. That set was perfect and it's the ones I have now. They feel very natural and I actually forget I have them sometimes! I'm so happy I was able to afford this procedure and would recommend it to anyone that cannot save their natural teeth.

It has been almost a year and a half since surgery and still doing great! My annual checkup is supposed to be in December this year, but I called the office and asked to change it to March. I'm traveling from TN and don't wanna risk driving in snow around Christmas time. I'm very glad they're ok with that. I haven't had any issues so far, and I've finally gotten used to using the bridge floss. I had a hard time with it at first and used to mostly just waterpik. It's important to use actual floss too though. I'll post an update after my checkup or if anything changes. Very happy with them!