All-On-Sex: The Real Reasons Patients Invest In Full-Arch Implant Therapy

For those not in the dental field All-On-X, Teeth-In-A-Day, All-On-4 or TeethXpress all refer to a dental implant procedure that replaces an arch of missing or failing teeth in as little as a day. It is a life-changing procedure that takes someone’s biggest insecurity and turns it into a point of pride. I fell in love with this procedure after seeing thousands of lives changed through dental implants.

In order to help as many patients and my clients, dentists and surgeons, I spent years trying to understand why patients would fork out $20,000-$100,000 to remove their failing teeth and have screws placed into their jaws. I also found many clinicians struggle to communicate the benefits of All-On-X to their patients. There are plenty of logical reasons to invest in All-On-X, like improved health, ability to chew foods, better nutrition, a beautiful smile and on and on and on. But you know what, none of the logical reasons matter, only the patient’s reasons matter.

Anecdotally, the number one reason I have found why patients take the plunge and break out their wallets comes down to instinct, also referred to as the Reptilian or Primal Brain! 

The primal brain is also in charge of, what are often referred to as, the four Fs: Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, and… Reproduction (well, we won’t use that other f-word here!).

From personal experience I have found that nearly every “Yes” or “No” for a full-arch procedure comes from one of these four instincts. 

-        Feeding – pretty obvious here, you need teeth to eat.

-        Fighting – for our purposes let’s define this as survival or one’s health.

-        Fleeing – avoidance of a problem or pain and why people say “NO” to implants.

-        Reproduction – you probably guessed this one, sex (and not for reproduction).

Let’s peel the layers back and give some examples of each of these Primal Brain Instincts in some real-world scenarios.

Feeding

“I can’t chew food properly!”

“It hurts when I try to bite into certain foods.”

“I haven’t had a steak in 30 years.” 

I hear variations of these quotes from patients nearly every day and I am sure doctors do as well. Now we know our Primal Brain wants us to eat, but if a patient is going to say “Yes” and spend that money, we need to go slightly deeper.

What do I mean? Well, we have to paint the picture of what they really want and to do so we have to ask patients the right questions.

Here is an example:

Doc: You said you had problems chewing certain foods. What is the food that you love the most that is giving you issues?

Patient: “It’s been so long since I’ve had a steak, I can barely remember the taste.”

Doc: “I love steak too, especially medium rare. Are there any other foods you love that give you issues?”

Patient: “Corn on the cob is another one.”

Doc: So, to clarify, you are looking for a solution that would allow you to eat foods like steak and corn on the cob, once again. If you’re like me, you probably want a medium rare filet from Bone’s that cuts through like butter with that mushroom sauce that is just incredible! And that steaming corn on the cob with butter and a little salt and pepper, right?”

Patient: “Holy hell! That would be amazing!”

Doc: “Well, Mr. Patient, we have helped so many people, just like you, eat that steak that they had been missing out on. In fact, we specialize in it! It will be an investment, but it will be worth it!”

Patient: “You had my curiosity, now you have my attention!”

Paint the picture and make it specific to the patient. People aren’t paying for implants they’re paying for that steak!  (Side note: I was involved in a case where an 85 year old woman paid $80,000 for a bilateral sinus lift and upper and lower All-On-6 specifically so she could eat steak again before she died. That’s a pricey filet, but that is what she wanted!)

Fighting

The survival instinct. In modern days, we aren’t worried about being eaten by a prehistoric beast. But, we do have to worry about health issues that negatively affect on us like diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, depression and anxiety. These diseases threaten people's survival and many of these ailments are linked with missing teeth. 

Could dental implants help a person with rotting or missing teeth improve his overall health and longevity? Of course! However, in my experience it is really rare that a patient will choose All-On-X just for health reasons. Although, it is one of our core Primal Brain functions to survive longer, people have a hard time linking teeth to overall survival. It is the same reason people keep smoking cigarettes when they know it is bad for them. It seems so far down the line, that it is not an immediate threat.

One caveat here. I have had multiple cases where a loved one pushed for their spouse, parent or child to move forward with the procedure for health reasons. Turns out we ignore our own mortality, but not the mortality of the ones we love.

Fleeing

This is the “NO!” instinct right here. “Fleeing” is an avoidance of problems or pain. In our terms, it is the reason a patient does not move forward with All-On-X. They are too afraid of the physical pain from surgery, the financial pain of the investment or they do not have enough trust in the clinician. 

Essentially, for case acceptance one of the other three instincts must outweigh the “Fleeing” instinct.

Reproduction (SEX!)

Now, potential patients certainly will not say they are spending their money to get laid or even know that’s why they’re doing it, but as I began to really break things down, it is undeniable.

(Side Note: I make sweeping generalizations about men and women here in order to simplify things. By no means am I intentionally trying to offend anyone, but I may try and make you laugh)

Everyone likes sex, even the elderly. Why do you think that little blue pill flies off the shelf?

Fun, gross fact: According to a study by Berkeley University of California Wellness, there has been a staggering increase in STI’s in adults 65 and over (the ideal All-On-X crowd).

-        Chlamydia is up 52%

-        Syphilis has increased 65%

-        Gonorrhea climbed 90%

Again, gross. But even your grandparent wants to get laid. Sorry, but it’s true. The good news for implant practices is that no one wants to get with someone with nasty or missing teeth!

Enough with the elderly, let’s take a deeper dive into examples of men and women’s “reasons” into investing in sex . . . I mean full-arch immediate load implant dentistry.

Women

One of the most common reasons I find that women decide to go for full-arch are:

“I want to look younger.”

“I want a nice smile.”

“I feel old when I take out my teeth.”

Think about what these statements really mean.

“I want a nice smile.” A nice smile in and of itself is somewhat irrelevant. A nice smile doesn’t directly bring a person any value. But what does a nice smile do for you? It increases someone’s confidence and makes them look healthier and more attractive. Now maybe you tell yourself, “I just want to look good for me!” but who are you trying to kid here? You’re doing it to attract whomever you’re attracted to. And why would you want that? Love? Sure. Companionship? Fine. Knockin’ boots? Hell yes!

“I want to look younger.” Let’s just get into it. You want to look younger, because looking younger is sexy and when you look and feel sexy, guess what’s right around the corner?

Men

Now, let’s look at men. Men are easy, both figuratively and literally. Why do they spend a significant amount of money to replace their failing teeth with implants? Well, the top “reasons” I have found are:

“My wife/girlfriend wanted me to.”

“I just got divorced.”

“My wife passed away.”

“I got dumped.”

Let’s break these down.

“My wife wanted me to.” Men tend to ignore health problems, avoid pain and run from anything that is expensive (unless it is fun). Sometimes we give into our partner’s wants to appease them and we usually find it was in our best interest. Now their wife may want them to get new teeth to improve their health, but they also don’t want to get close to that nasty mouth. New teeth equal a happy wife, happy life and probably some boogie nights, if you know what I am saying.

Now for the most common reason I have found men decide to suck it up, open the wallet and get those dental implants; they're single, due to a break up, divorce or death. So, what happens to that freshly divorced 50-year old guy with a spare tire around his waist? He hits the gym, HARD! He hasn't worked out since he got married 25 years ago, but now he’s got to look good, so he can get on Tinder! 

The same thing goes for the guy with bad teeth. He might have been a patient at a dental practice for years and shut the dentist down anytime spending money to improve his smile was brought up. But now, he’s got that reason to fork out that cash, and it’s not for teeth. It’s for what the teeth will get him, a new love interest! It’s the same reason men spend money on sports cars, because (supposedly) women love cars and men love women (BTW- I know this is a huge non-PC generalization, but I assure you I mean no offense). In his mind, a new car equals getting laid and now new teeth equals getting some lovin’…see what I am getting at here?

Let’s Wrap It Up (hehehe)

The point of this whole article is to get clinicians to start digging deeper and trying to really understand why people say “YES” to spending thousands of dollars, bypassing their dental anxiety and going through the discomfort of surgery in order to replace their teeth. And, if you are a doctor and start realizing what patients really want, you can give it to them through the services you offer. You’re no longer an implant dentist, you’re their path to their real desires! Ohhhh baby!