All-on-4 Implant Supported Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Maxilla After Complete-Arch Guided Soft Tissue Healing - A 5-Year Follow-Up

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Finn

A 67-year-old patient with terminal dentition in the maxillary arch underwent reconstruction using an all-on-four implant-supported approach with complete-arch guided soft tissue healing. After implant placement, an immediate interim prosthesis was used to accelerate prosthetic rehabilitation and guide soft tissue healing, contributing to a more favorable aesthetic outcome, improved patient satisfaction, and acceptance of the treatment. The case emphasizes the challenge of soft tissue aesthetic reconstruction and highlights the need for interdisciplinary coordination among surgeons, prosthodontists, and dental technicians to achieve efficient, successful outcomes over follow-up.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Clinical Report

Wiley Case Reports in Dentistry Volume 2026, Article ID 8816863, 5 pages [https://doi.org/10.1155/crid/8816863](https://doi.org/10.1155/crid/8816863) Case Report All-on-4 Implant Supported Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Maxilla After Complete-Arch Guided Soft Tissue Healing: A 5-Year Follow-Up Nazmiye Şen , 1 Pınar Turkoglu,2 and Fırat Selvi3 1Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye 2Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Aydın, Istanbul, Türkiye 3Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye Correspondence should be addressed to Nazmiye Şen; [nazmiye.sonmez@istanbul.edu.tr](nazmiye.sonmez@istanbul.edu.tr) Received 22 April 2025; Revised 23 October 2025; Accepted 24 October 2025 Academic Editor: Kevin Seymour Copyright © 2026 Nazmiye Şen et al. Case Reports in Dentistry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This case report of a 67-year-old patient shows reconstruction of the edentulous maxilla with all-on-four implant treatment involving soft tissue esthetics. Reconstruction of the edentulous maxilla involving soft tissue esthetics is a challenging clinical procedure and should be treated with an interdisciplinary approach. In this case report, complete-arch guided soft tissue healing with an immediate interim prosthesis was applied following all-on-four implant placement. The immediate interim prosthesis helped achieve rapid prosthetic rehabilitation and guided soft tissue healing, resulting in an improved esthetic outcome, patient satisfaction, and acceptance for the treatment. Eﬀective communication between surgeons, prosthodontists, and dental technicians made the process easy and successful during both implant placement and prosthetic rehabilitation. Keywords: all-on-four concept; edentulism; guided soft tissue healing; immediate loading 1. Introduction Implant-supported full-arch ﬁxed dental prostheses have been used as alternatives to total prostheses in edentulous patients with improved patient satisfaction [1–3] . The required number of implants to support complete-arch ﬁxed dental prostheses varied among studies from three to eight implants [2, 4–6] . In 2003, the all-on-four treatment concept was introduced by Malo et al. to support full-arch ﬁxed dental prostheses with four implants [1] . It has been considered to be a reliable and eﬀective treatment approach by many other studies then [5–8] . The implant and prosthesis survival rates of the all-on-four concept were found to be comparable with those of having more than four implants [7, 8] . Furthermore, the all-on-four concept has many advantages such as increasing bone anchorage, decreasing cantilever length, requiring fewer implants, providing immediate function, and reducing the risk of damaging anatomical structures with angled implant placement [2–4, 7, 8] . However, requiring detailed surgical and prosthetic planning with a delicate surgical technique and keeping the cantilever length within limits have been considered the most challenging parts of the concept [2, 9] . The all-on-four treatment concept is used to rehabilitate completely edentulous jaws with a ﬁxed dental prosthesis supported by four implants [1–3] . Two implants are placed axially in the anterior region, and two implants are placed distally in the posterior region to reduce the cantilever length [2] . During the surgical phase, a classical ﬂap procedure could be performed with the help of surgical guides prepared using computer-aided design [10] . Recently, ﬂapless surgery is also possible with the help of individualized guide plates [11] . The use of various guide plates during the surgical phase facilitates the pla

FAQs

What treatment approach was used for the patient’s edentulous maxilla?

The patient received an all-on-four implant-supported prosthetic rehabilitation combined with complete-arch guided soft tissue healing.

What role did the immediate interim prosthesis play?

An immediate interim prosthesis supported rapid prosthetic rehabilitation and guided soft tissue healing, contributing to improved esthetic outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Why is interdisciplinary coordination important in this procedure?

The case highlights effective communication between surgeons, prosthodontists, and dental technicians as a key factor for success during both implant placement and prosthetic rehabilitation.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Finn