Comparing Your Options
All-on-4 Alternatives
Understanding all your options helps you make the best decision for your smile, health, and lifestyle.
Exploring the Alternatives to All-on-4
All-on-4 is a popular treatment clinicians perform for full arch teeth replacement, but it comes with its limitations. Alternative treatment include Implant Bridges, FP1 & FP2 options. In implant dentistry, FP1 and FP2 are fixed, screw-retained classifications set by the American College of Prosthodontists (ACP) used for full-arch restorations. They differ based on the amount of bone and gum tissue loss, affecting how the final prosthetic teeth are designed to emerge from the gums.
FP1 (Functional Prosthetic 1):
Design: Replaces only the missing teeth (crowns), not the gum tissue. The prosthetic margin follows the patient's natural gum line.
Requirements: Requires healthy bone and soft tissue levels with no noticeable recession or shrinkage.
Result: Provides the most lifelike, "natural-looking" results without the need for artificial pink acrylic or porcelain.
FP2 (Functional Prosthetic 2):
Design: Replaces missing teeth along with a portion of the tooth root.
Requirements: Appropriate for moderate bone loss or minor gum recession. It involves elongated clinical crowns to make up for the tissue recession, but no artificial gingiva.
Implant Bridges - FP1/FP2 Versus ALL-ON-4
Implant bridges use dental implants as anchors instead of natural teeth, when patient looses natural dentition in the upper or lower jaw. This can be done as one continuous piece or in three pieces.
IMPLANT BRIDGE - FP1/FP2
- Feels like Natural Dentition
- Very minimal bone removal done, when smile line is ideal and patient present with no prior bone loss but bad teeth
- Need precision implant placement, mandatory for patients to have good bone volume and density
- More expensive and longer treatment time
- Easy to clean, similar to natural teeth
- No artificial pink gum
ALL-ON-4/ALL ON X
- Large and bulkier than natural dentition
- Some amount of bone removal is needed
- Implants are placed at available bone areas and at different angles
- Less expensive and shorter treatment time
- Extra hygiene measures like water picking is needed
- Artificial pink gum needed
All-on-6 design
FP1/FP2 design
Dr. Devis Implant Bridge Case Example - FP2
Dr. Devis All-on-4 Case Example showing how All-on-4 prosthesis looks inside the mouth
