Kim from Auckland — All-on-6 upper arch, Osstem fixtures

Real patient story, shared with permission. This patient has consented to Picasso Dental Clinic publishing their experience to help other New Zealand patients. Treatment, material, NZD price, and timeline are accurate to the case archive. Reviewed by Dr. Tran Thanh Phong, Head of Implantology.

Kim is 64, a retired Auckland small-business owner. Over the previous decade she had lost most of her upper teeth — first to decay, then to two failed crowns and a bridge that never sat right. By the time she contacted us she was down to a handful of compromised upper teeth and was managing on a partial denture she disliked. She had been quoted NZD 38,000 for an All-on-6 upper arch on Osstem fixtures by an Auckland private clinic.

She came to us through a New Zealand search and sent the CBCT scan her Auckland clinician had already taken, along with eight intra-oral photographs. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: All-on-6 Osstem at NZD 12,000 clinical cost (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND).

Why six implants and not four

The first question Kim asked was the right one: did she actually need six implants, or was that just the more expensive option being recommended?

From the post-trip survey: “I’d read about All-on-4 and assumed that was the cheaper, simpler version of the same thing. I didn’t want to pay for two extra implants I didn’t need.”

Dr. Tran Thanh Phong reviewed her CBCT and bite analysis in writing before flights were booked. Two findings pointed to six fixtures:

• Bone volume. Her upper arch had enough bone width and height across the posterior to support six implants without grafting — so the additional fixtures were possible without adding surgery.
• Bite forces. She had a long history of night grinding (her partial denture showed the wear). Six fixtures spread the chewing load across more points and give the bridge redundancy if one implant ever has a problem.

His written note was explicit that All-on-4 would also have been a clinically reasonable plan, and cost NZD 8,333 at the Osstem tier — NZD 3,667 less. The recommendation for six came from the imaging and the grinding history, not from a preference for a larger number. We sent her the All-on-6 pillar so she could read the four-versus-six trade-off in full before deciding.

She chose All-on-6.

The two trips

Trip 1 — surgery and immediate fixed temporary (10 days)

Four-month osseointegration window

Kim returned to Auckland and resumed normal life. We did a 6-week remote check-in, a 3-month video call, and arranged an Auckland GP review at week 8 (sutures had dissolved, but we wanted a local eye on the soft tissue). The temporary bridge held throughout.

Trip 2 — final zirconia bridge (6 days)

What it cost end-to-end

Against the Auckland quote of NZD 38,000 for the same Osstem-tier All-on-6, the gross saving was NZD 26,000 and the net saving after travel was NZD 19,880. The 4-month time investment across two trips was acceptable to her as a retiree — for a working-age patient the time off work would be a larger factor in the decision.

The thing she didn’t expect

From the survey: “I’d braced myself for the surgery to be the hard part. It wasn’t. The six implants going in was over in an afternoon and I had teeth that evening. The part nobody prepared me for was the speech. For the first two days the temporary changed how I made ’s’ and ’th’ sounds and I sounded like I had a mouthful of marbles. I rang the clinic almost in tears. They told me it was completely normal, that the tongue adapts within a few days — and it did, by day three.”

We have since added a “speech adjustment” note to the All-on-6 pre-trip pack. Real patient stories like this one are how we find the gaps.

What aftercare looked like back in Auckland

Kim had a 3-month check by her own Auckland dentist, who reviewed the bridge fit, the occlusion, and hygiene access around the bridge. We supplied the implant passport (Osstem lot numbers, batch, fixture type, torque values), the CBCT records, and the staged treatment summary. Her dentist added everything to her file.

12-month review with the Auckland dentist — clean. She cleans around the bridge daily with a water flosser and interdental brushes. Because of the grinding history, Dr. Phong prescribed a night guard to protect the prosthesis, which she wears every night.

Kim’s three pieces of advice

From her survey response:

1. “Ask why six and not four — and make them answer with your CBCT, not a brochure. Once Dr. Phong showed me my own bone and my grinding wear, the six made sense. If they can’t explain it from your scan, push back.”
2. “Plan trip 1 as 10 days, not 7. The recovery days at the hotel are not wasted time — they’re part of the treatment. Flying home too early is the mistake I almost made.”
3. “Get your night guard sorted before you leave Vietnam. I grind in my sleep and I’d have chipped the bridge inside a year without it. Nobody at home had connected my old denture wear to my new teeth — Dr. Phong did.”

See also

• All-on-6 pillar — the protocol, fixture tiers, four-versus-six trade-off, and NZD pricing.
• All-on-4 vs All-on-6 — how the choice between four and six fixtures is made.
• Night guard and bruxism aftercare — what Kim was prescribed to protect the bridge.
• Auckland to Vietnam dental travel page — local benchmark and route logistics.

Request your own free NZD All-on-6 quote

About this page

Medically reviewed by

Dr. Tran Thanh Phong

Head of Implantology, Picasso Dental Clinic

DDS · 25+ years in practice · 15,000+ implants placed · 1,000+ All-on-4 cases

Clinical focus: Implantology · All-on-4 · Zygomatic implants

Dr. Tran Thanh Phong has practised since 2001 and leads implantology across the Picasso group. He was the first Vietnamese dentist to perform All-on-4 immediate loading (2010), placed over 15,000 implants across his career at roughly 600 per year, and has completed 400+ zygomatic implant cases since 2017. Loma Linda University-trained (2010). Clinical representative for Nobel Biocare in Vietnam since 2007.

Last clinically reviewed

28 May 2026

Published by

Picasso Dental Clinic

Review policy

Every medical procedure page on this site is reviewed by a named Picasso clinician before publication and re-checked when pricing, materials, or protocols change. Source documents are linked at the bottom of each page.