Until recently, there was little oral surgeons could do for the roughly 30 million Americans living with tooth loss, but now a groundbreaking procedure could give more patients a reason to smile. NY1's Health reporter Kafi Drexel filed the following report.

A revolutionary surgical procedure allows a person without any teeth to regain a full set in just an hour. These dental implants are growing in popularity as more specialists learn the skills.

"The problem these patients historically have getting dental implants and fixed teeth again rather than dentures, which are removable, is they have very little bone left after they lose all their teeth," says Dr. Steven Moss of Malo Advanced Oral Rehabilitation. "So when patients go to their dentist and say, 'I'd like to have teeth again that don't come in and out any longer,' their dentist typically tells them, 'I'd love to give you dental implants but you are not a candidate.' Or, 'You would need bone grafting to even put implants in.'"

The vast majority of people who lose teeth, defined by dentists as "edentulism," do so as they age due to periodontal disease. For decades, bone grafting, involving multiple surgeries and running upwards of $30,000, was the only fix.

A procedure called the "All-On-Four," developed by European doctor Paulo Malo, the founder of Malo Clinics, allows as few as four implants for a full set of new replacement teeth. Computer simulation, biomechanics and lots of planning ahead helps oral surgeons develop special implants that can support replacement teeth right away.

"So basically, it was using products already existing in the market with new surgical techniques. By doing this, we solved almost about 100 percent of the cases without bone grafting," says Malo.

Even with the All-On-Four approach, dental implants might still cost as much as an economy sedan. Yet at least the price is reduced by about half without bone grafting.

Malo says that is a huge part of the end game, and is hoping his work will make implants accessible for more patients.

"It's not a luxury. To have no teeth, it's physically compromising and emotionally compromising," says Malo.

The price can continue to drop with cheaper products and more efficient surgical methods, according to Malo. However, governments around the world have to step in to address tooth loss as not just a cosmetic problem, but an overall health problem.