A patient who we will refer to as Cooper came to us. He had lost several teeth in the lower arch several years past. At the time, he did not have the ability to pay for dental implants, and, not knowing much about them anyway, had opted for the less expensive route of a partial set of dentures. For a while, the dentures worked ok for him, but by the time he came to see us, he said he was having difficulty chewing.
This is not an uncommon dilemma that people for people who opt for partial dentures. They are very affordable in comparison to titanium dental implants used in full mouth reconstruction work. Unfortunately, even affordability sometimes comes with a price. Partials are made from softer materials than dental implants. A person who wears them cannot eat certain foods. He or she also has to remove the partials periodically for cleaning, and many times partials cause embarrassing moments when they make noise during dinner, or even worse, fall out.
The first thing we did for the patient was to help him find a financial plan that would make it possible for him to afford a full mouth reconstruction with dental implants. Most dentists have many such financial services available here at their cosmetic dentistry clinic's or offices. Once we were able to arrange this service for our patient, we took a closer look at the condition of his mouth, focusing specifically on the degree of bone loss he had suffered in his jaws.
When jawbones lose teeth, they lose a surface around which they are accustomed to growing. If no dental implant is placed in the bone, it recedes and begins to deteriorate. This is yet another problem people with partials face after they have worn them for a few years. Bone loss occurs to the extent that placing dental implants becomes increasingly complex.
Sometimes, cosmetic dentists have to use a combination of implant dentistry and other tooth replacement options to make use of what bone mass is still available. This is what we had to do in Coopers case, because he had already lost too much bone in his lower jaw to replace every missing tooth with an implant.
We located four key positions along the jawbone that provided sufficient surface area into which we could place 4 titanium dental implants. These implants, in turn, provided anchor points to which we attached a new, removable denture that was custom made for patients mouth.
The denture was made with an acrylic palate that covered the top of patients mouth. The partial snapped into place over the implants, and anchored so firmly in place that we were then able to cut the acrylic away and expose the palate.
This is necessary in full mouth reconstruction work because the palate, like the tongue, plays a role in helping us feel and taste the food we eat. Removing the acrylic roof to the partials made it possible for Cooper to better enjoy meals he ate, and it also made the partials more comfortable for him to wear.
Ideally, it is always better to act early on when teeth are lost so there will still be sufficient bone mass to support dental implants. However, in all practicality, many patients have worn dentures for many years and have already lost a great deal of their jaws prior to visiting a cosmetic dentist.
For these people, there is still hope for a full mouth reconstruction and the restoration of a normal lifestyle and robust healthy diet, not to mention the aesthetics of a brand new smile and a whole new sense of confidence that comes from the feeling of tooth replacements that feel more like real teeth than false teeth.
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