If you are missing all or many of your teeth, all-on-four dental implants can be a great way to restore your dental health. Resting on four smaller implant posts, all-on-4 restorations allow you to enjoy immediate dental function. Plus, thanks to the smaller size of the implant posts, there is less likelihood that you will need bone grafting. At the same time, one of the few drawbacks of all-on-four dental implants is that they can affect your speech.
When you are considering all-on-4, it’s vital to find an experienced oral surgeon. At Texas Oral Surgery Specialists in Colleyville, TX, Dr. Chris Tye offers all-on-4, along with various other types of implants and implant-supported dentures. He can help determine whether all-on-four dental implants are right for you. And if you opt for this treatment, his skill and precision will minimize the impact on your speech. He can also provide guidance to further reduce the effects on consonant pronunciation.
To learn more about all-on-4 and to find out if it is right for you, contact Texas Oral Surgery Specialists today.
Why do all-on-four dental implants affect speech?
There are several reasons that all-on-4 can affect your speech more than other types of dentures.
- Vertical height: All-on-four dental implants are bulkier than other types of dental restorations. In particular, the acrylic base is often higher than patients’ original soft tissues, so it can be challenging to retrain the tongue to accommodate the extra material.
- Treatment timeline: Many all-on-4 patients already have severe gum disease. This often creates gaps between teeth and causes teeth to shift forward in the mouth. Patients may have adjusted their speech to counteract these changes. Therefore, when they receive their all-on-4 restoration, their teeth are immediately closer to the way they originally looked and felt. As a result, they need to retrain their tongues to resume natural movements for speech.
Reducing the Impact to Speech
Fortunately, many speech changes due to all-on-4 are temporary and can be overcome with time and patience. You can also retrain your tongue to adjust to your denture. Begin speaking slowly and pay close attention to the sounds that are most affected by your new prosthetic.
Dr. Tye may recommend lip- or tongue-strengthening exercises that will help. If speech issues are particularly problematic, you could also consider speech therapy.
Fortunately, most patients are not bothered by their speech in the long term. In fact, 84% of patients are satisfied with their speech following all-on-four placement.
The Importance of Finding the Right Doctor
The other way to reduce speech changes is to find an experienced doctor. A truly expert practitioner like Dr. Tye can make minute adjustments to the angle of your implant posts. He can also add material to the acrylic base.
Our office is equipped with a 3D digital radiographic CT scanner. This advanced imaging technology can capture pictures of your entire facial structure, including teeth, nerves, jawbone, and gums. In this way, Dr. Tye can ascertain the best implant position for speech and oral function.
Learn More about All-on-Four Dental Implants
Have further questions or concerns about all-on-4? Contact Texas Oral Surgery Spcialists online or call us at 817-552-3223.
We are located in Colleyville and serve patients from across the Fort Worth area, including Southlake, Grapevine, and Bedford,
