When most or all of the teeth in a jaw are failing, All-on-X replaces the whole arch on four to six implants. The teeth are fixed in place. They don't come out, and there's no plate across the roof of your mouth.
Instead of replacing twelve or fourteen teeth with twelve or fourteen implants, we place four to six implants at carefully chosen angles and anchor one solid bridge of teeth across them.
The "X" is simply the number of implants. Some jaws are well served by four. Some need six for the load they'll carry. We decide that from your 3D scan and your bite, not from a marketing name.
The result is fixed. Only we can remove it, at your check-ups, to clean underneath. You brush it, floss under it with the tools we give you, and otherwise live with it as teeth.
A conventional denture rests on your gums and relies on suction. It moves. It limits what you can bite into, it covers your palate so food tastes duller, and because nothing is stimulating the bone underneath, the jaw keeps shrinking year after year — which is why dentures need relining and eventually stop fitting at all.
All-on-X is anchored into bone. It doesn't move, it doesn't cover your palate, and the implants keep the bone loaded so it holds its shape.
On traditional dentures: we do still make and repair them, and for some patients they are genuinely the right answer — usually on grounds of health or cost. If that's you, we'll say so honestly rather than steer you toward surgery.
For patients wearing something that moves, or who have been told the rest of the arch is going.
2 min 41 sec · More in our patient education videos.
This is bigger surgery than a single implant, and we won't pretend otherwise. It is also almost always done under IV sedation, so the appointment itself is something most patients have no memory of.
For a case this long we can also arrange full general anesthesia, where a certified registered nurse anesthetist comes to our office and puts you completely asleep — see sedation and anesthesia.
Afterward, expect real soreness and noticeable swelling for the first three to five days. We manage it with prescribed medication, and we call you the next day to check. Most patients tell us the discomfort was less than the years of trouble that led them here — but the first week asks something of you.
Surgery day is long: usually four to six hours per arch, including removing any remaining teeth, placing the implants, and fitting your temporary teeth.
You leave with teeth. That same day. They are a temporary set — a little less refined than the final ones, and you'll eat softly on them — but you do not go home without teeth.
Plan on a week where you don't have much on. Patients who schedule this over a quiet week do far better than patients who try to work through it.
All-on-X tends to be right for people who are:
What we check: whether there is enough bone in the right places (angled implants often let us avoid grafting entirely, even in jaws that have shrunk considerably), whether any gum infection needs clearing first, and whether your general health supports a longer procedure under sedation.
Heavy smoking materially raises the failure rate here. We'll talk about it honestly rather than skip past it.
A CBCT scan and a digital scan of your bite let us plan every implant position before surgery day, and let the lab begin your temporary teeth in advance. That planning is what makes it possible to hand you a fixed set of teeth the same afternoon we remove the old ones.
Board certification is the highest credential in periodontics, and both of our doctors hold it. Complex cases here are reviewed by both: the surgeon who will do the work, and the specialist who helped write the research it rests on. A second opinion is built in, with no extra step for you.
Diplomate, American Board of Periodontology · Faculty, PNWU School of Dental Medicine
Founder of the practice. Trained in the UK and the United States, teaches periodontics at the dental school in Yakima and lectures internationally. Conservative planning, honest advice, and no corners cut.
Read his full bio
Diplomate, American Board of Periodontology · Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
More than 140 published papers and a lead author of the national guidelines on disease around implants. Other surgeons travel to learn implant surgery from him. Calm, thorough, and clear about what he is doing and why.
Read his full bioWhen your dentist wants a specialist involved, this is where they send you.
We can't put a real number on a webpage, because the honest answer depends on what your exam and 3D scan show. What we can promise is that you'll get a written treatment plan with an exact figure on it before you commit to anything. No surprises added later.
Most patients have some insurance coverage, and we'll check yours and tell you what it will and won't pay. For the balance, we work with three financing companies so you can spread the cost over time — many patients qualify for plans with no interest if paid within the promotional period.
Ask us at your consultation and we'll walk you through the options and the monthly numbers.
Call any of our three offices, or send us a request and we'll get back to you. Phone hours are Monday to Friday, 7am to 3pm.