Nobel implant treatment options

A single implant replaces one missing tooth with a titanium fixture in the jaw and a crown on top. Its main advantage over a conventional bridge is what it does not do: it leaves the neighbouring teeth untouched, where a bridge requires them to be cut down to carry the replacement.

Implants required

One per missing tooth

Typical visits to the clinic

Two treatment visits, separated by healing

Immediate placement means the implant goes into the socket at the same appointment the tooth comes out, rather than waiting months for the site to heal first. Where it works, it removes a stage from the treatment and preserves the shape of the gum and bone around the site.

Decision point

Confirmed during surgery, not only beforehand

Socket walls

Must be substantially intact

A full-arch treatment replaces every tooth in one jaw with a fixed bridge carried on implants. Unlike a denture it does not rest on the gum and is not removed, and unlike single implants it does not need one implant per tooth — the bridge spans between a smaller number of well-placed supports.

Implants per arch

Typically four to six, decided by the bone

Fixed or removable

Fixed — not taken out by the patient

All-on-4 is a treatment concept defined by Nobel Biocare in which a full arch of fixed teeth is carried on four implants — two placed vertically at the front, two angled at the back to use the bone that remains without entering the sinus. Angling the rear implants is the idea that makes the concept work, because it often removes the need to graft the back of the jaw.

Implants per arch

Four

Rear implant position

Angled to use available bone

All-on-6 describes a full arch of fixed teeth carried on six implants rather than four. The extra pair spreads the chewing load across more anchorage points and shortens the unsupported spans in the bridge, which is why it is often preferred where the bone allows it and the bite is heavy.

Implants per arch

Six

Load distribution

Spread across more anchorage points

An implant needs bone around it on every side. Where a tooth has been missing for years, or was lost to infection or a fracture, the ridge may be too narrow or too short for that.

Reason needed

Insufficient bone width or height at the planned site

Timing

Simultaneous with implant placement, or staged before it

Above the back teeth of the upper jaw sits the maxillary sinus, an air-filled cavity. When those teeth are lost, the sinus tends to expand downwards into the space their roots occupied, and the bone left between the sinus floor and the mouth can become too shallow to hold an implant.

Reason needed

Insufficient bone height below the maxillary sinus

Jaw affected

Upper, back region only