All-on-4 compared
All-on-4, dentures, overdentures and single implants — side by side.
Four ways to replace a full jaw of teeth. They differ in what holds them in, what you can eat, what happens to the bone underneath and what they cost. Here is the comparison without the sales pitch.
Are implants better than dentures?
They do a different job. A denture rests on the gum and moves as you chew; All-on-4 is screwed to four implants anchored in bone and does not move at all. That changes what you can bite, how clearly you speak, whether anything covers your palate, and whether anything comes out at night. A denture costs less and is quicker; an implant bridge is the one people stop thinking about.
Reviewed August 2026.
| All-on-4 fixed bridge | Conventional denture | Implant overdenture | Individual implants | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What holds it in | Four implants anchored in bone | Suction and the gum ridge | Two to four implants, clipped on | One implant per missing tooth |
| Comes out at night | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Covers the palate | No | Upper dentures usually do | Often reduced | No |
| Teeth on the day of surgery | Yes — fixed provisional bridge | Immediate denture, relined later | Usually not | Case by case |
| Bone loss in the jaw over time | Slowed where the implants are | Continues | Slowed at the implant sites | Slowed at each implant |
| How it is priced here | One flat fee per arch, whatever the case turns out to need | Least expensive of the four | Between a denture and a fixed arch | Priced per tooth — the dearest way to do a whole jaw |
| Cleaning | Brush plus water flosser underneath | Taken out and soaked | Taken out and soaked; implants brushed | Brush and floss as normal |
Where a denture is still the right answer
When the budget for implants is not there and waiting would mean living with pain or with teeth that cannot be saved, a well-made conventional denture is a real treatment, not a consolation prize. It can also be the first step: some patients wear one while they decide, and go to implants later. Nothing about having had a denture rules implants out afterwards.
Where an implant overdenture fits
Two to four implants with a denture that clips onto them. It still comes out for cleaning, but it stops the movement that makes a lower denture hard to live with, and it costs less than a fixed bridge. For a lower jaw with very little ridge left, this is often the sensible middle.
Where individual implants win
When most of your own teeth are healthy and you are replacing one, two or three. Replacing each missing tooth separately keeps the teeth you still have and is easier to clean than a bridge. It becomes the expensive option only when almost everything has to be replaced — which is the point at which All-on-4 costs less than eight or ten separate implants.
The honest caveat about “teeth in a day”
The bridge fitted on the day of surgery is a fixed provisional. It is screwed in, it does not come out, and you eat with it — but it is not the definitive bridge. That one is made after the implants have fused with bone, several months later. Any office describing the first bridge as the final result is describing it inaccurately.
Next step
A scan answers this in one appointment.
Whether your jaw will take implants is a question about bone, not about opinion. Twenty minutes, and the consultation is free.