Temporary Teeth After Full-Arch Implants: A Guide

Temporary full-arch teeth are a fixed set of teeth, usually made of high-density acrylic, attached to your new implants on or soon after surgery day. They let you smile, talk and eat soft foods while the implants heal, which takes months. They protect the implants, so they are deliberately less hard-wearing than your final teeth.

Most people are surprised by how normal the temporaries look. They are also not the finished product, and knowing why helps you look after them and avoid problems during healing. This guide covers the temporary teeth themselves. For general eating advice after any implant surgery, see our article on what to eat after implant surgery.

What the temporary teeth are

The temporaries, also called provisionals or a provisional bridge, are a one-piece arch of teeth screwed to the implants. You do not take them out. At Shield Dental Care the lab prepares them before surgery from your CBCT scan, digital impressions and photos, so they can be fitted the same day when the implants are stable enough.

A 2017 consensus statement on the All-on-4 technique recommended that the provisional prosthesis be rigid and non-flexible, to avoid tiny movements at the implants, and that high-density acrylic resin be preferred, sometimes reinforced with a metal frame. It also recommended that the provisional stay in place for at least six months to let the gums stabilize, though healing times vary from person to person.

Why they are not your final teeth

There are three reasons.

• Protection. In the first months, the implants are fusing with the bone. Acrylic temporaries absorb some of the force of chewing and are designed so that, if anything gives, it is the temporary rather than an implant.
• Your gums change shape. After extractions, the gums and bone remodel as they heal. Final teeth made on surgery day would not fit the healed mouth well.
• A trial run. The temporaries let you live with the shape, length and color of your new teeth. What you like and dislike about them helps us design the final teeth.

The final teeth are made from porcelain zirconia, which is harder and more resistant to staining than acrylic. Our article on zirconia vs acrylic full-arch teeth compares the two materials.

Eating with temporary teeth

You will be asked to eat soft foods while the implants heal. This is not about the temporaries alone: hard, chewy or crunchy food puts force on implants that are still bonding with the bone. Typical guidance:

• Choose foods you can cut with a fork: eggs, fish, pasta, well-cooked vegetables, soft rice, yogurt, soups that are not too hot.
• Cut food into small pieces and chew with the back teeth on both sides rather than biting with the front teeth.
• Avoid nuts, hard bread crusts, raw carrots, apples bitten whole, popcorn, ice, sticky candy and tough meat.
• Do not use the temporaries to open packages or bite your nails.

We will tell you when you can start reintroducing firmer foods, and it may be later than you expect. Follow the advice you are given for your own case, since it depends on how stable your implants were at placement.

Cleaning your temporary teeth

Because the temporaries stay in, food can collect underneath them, where the bridge meets the gums. Keeping that area clean matters for healthy healing.

• Brush twice a day with a soft toothbrush, including along the gumline.
• Use a water flosser, floss threaders or small interdental brushes under the bridge, once you are told it is safe to do so.
• Use any mouth rinse you were prescribed, as directed.
• Avoid whitening toothpaste and abrasive pastes, which can scratch acrylic.

Acrylic can pick up stains from coffee, tea, red wine and smoking more easily than the final teeth will. That is another reason the temporaries are not the long-term teeth.

What is normal, and what is not

Normal

• Your speech feels slightly different for the first days or weeks while your tongue gets used to the new teeth.
• More saliva than usual at first.
• The bite feels a little different from your old teeth or denture.
• Mild tenderness of the gums in the first weeks after surgery.

Call us if

• A temporary tooth chips or cracks, or the bridge feels loose or moves.
• You notice a new click, rocking or gap when you bite.
• You have pain or swelling that is getting worse rather than better, a bad taste or discharge, or a fever.
• The bite feels uneven, or you are hitting one spot first.

A chipped acrylic tooth is usually a simple repair, but a loose bridge should be checked promptly, because movement is what healing implants need to avoid. Our article on signs of dental implant failure lists the warning signs to take seriously.

Do not grind on them

If you clench or grind your teeth, at night or when stressed, tell us. Grinding puts heavy force on healing implants and on acrylic teeth. We may adjust your bite or recommend a way to protect the temporaries.

How long you wear them

You wear the temporaries until the implants have healed and the gums have settled, usually several months. Cleveland Clinic gives three to six months as the average healing time after implant placement, and longer after bone grafting. Our full-arch implant timeline shows where this stage sits in the whole process.

Your final teeth

When healing is confirmed, new impressions are taken and your final porcelain zirconia teeth are made and fitted, replacing the temporaries. Both the temporary and final teeth are part of full-arch treatment at Shield Dental Care; see our full mouth dental implants page for what is included. To talk through your own case, book a full-arch consultation or call (703) 250-5072.