Full Mouth Hard and Soft Tissue Rehabilitation

For young adults, since we are all living longer compared to 30 years ago, a critical period can arise in older adult years were hard and soft tissue loss reaches catastrophic levels.

Ordinary denture products rest on the gum tissues that are supported by underlying jawbone or the “bony ridge.” Without the stimulation of teeth or implants, the bone tissue will slowly resorb or disappear that causes a similar effect of disappearing gums.

Representative Case History Example

The 2nd picture shows the extreme loss of the bony ridge and gums. The anchor points for the partials provided a crude level of stimulation that maintained a small amount of bone health…. which is good.

There are cavern-like gaps of lost bone between the remaining teeth and rear-most areas of the mandible, or lower jaw.

Comprehensive Bone and Tissue Augmentation

To fortify the upper jaw for multiple implants, bone block grafts and sinus lift procedures placed bone graft material along the floor of the sinus cavity on an as needed basis that would provide an optimal depth of bone.

The porosity differences are substantially different for the upper and lower jaws. The mandible, or lower jaw, is quite dense.

The increased porosity of the upper jaw, which is Mother Nature’s method of providing a shock absorber requires close review to assure a consistent quality of bone from one end of the arch to the other.

Bone Augmentation: Depth – Width – Porosity

Depth, width and especially the porosity of the bone has been modified to assure a rock solid foundation for the fixed bridge prosthetics desired by the patient.

Note how leveling and filling in of low spots develops an idealized implant environment that will provide the best advantages for thorough osseointegration.

Temporary prosthetics were provided during the grafting surgery stages to assure the patient he would not be toothless during any phase of the treatment plan.

4 – 6 – 8 Implants

While four implants for a fixed bridge are considered the bare minimum it is important for patients to understand that more implants preserve more bone and distribute biting forces more efficiently that can eliminate the problem of implant failure due to a “too strong” of a bite.

To summarize… 4 implants are better than none, 6 are better with 8 or more being the best.

Premium Reconstruction: 8 + 8 + Titanium and Porcelain Fixed Bridgework

A discriminating patient who “went without” for so many years while he focused on raising a family, finally took the opportunity to rebuild and replace what was lost long ago.

The dental products, technologies and procedures selected by the patient represent what many dentists would call the best of the best. He simply wanted the treatments that would deliver not only “exactly” what he wanted…. but with the best possible long term endurance that is possible with today’s dentistry.