But who qualifies for a full mouth reconstruction? These procedures aren’t for every patient, but certain patients do need a full mouth reconstruction based on what their oral health situation is. From patients who are missing several teeth to patients with no teeth, here are the top candidates for full mouth reconstruction.

People with Tooth Loss from Trauma

If you’ve had an accident or trauma to your mouth area that’s led to tooth loss, you could be a candidate for full mouth reconstruction. Top candidates include those that have injured teeth, which include fractured or chipped teeth. Your dentist may choose to correct these with dental crowns, or if you’re missing the entire tooth, dental implants will likely be a better option for you.

Patients with Extensive Tooth Decay

If you have extensive tooth decay throughout your mouth, you may qualify for full mouth reconstruction. Your dentist will attempt to save your natural teeth, if possible, but this may require more than just fillings. Your teeth may require dental crowns, inlays, or onlays to protect your teeth from future decay. While inlays are generally used for larger cavities where a simple filling would be ineffective, onlays can help preserve tooth structure by filling in missing cusps of your teeth.

People with Extremely Worn Teeth

Your teeth were meant to last your entire life. However, sometimes poor oral hygiene or bad habits can lead to excessively worn teeth. This can come from habits such as bruxism (teeth grinding) or conditions such as enamel erosion. Enamel erosion can happen from acid reflux or from having a poor diet high in sugar and carbohydrates. When teeth are extremely worn down or damaged, your dentist may suggest a full mouth reconstruction.

Patients with Tooth Loss from Gum Disease

Gum disease—if left to progress—will eventually attack the ligaments that anchor your teeth in your jaw. This will lead to symptoms such as bleeding gums and loose teeth. If gum disease is advanced, you can ultimately lose your teeth. If you have tooth loss from gum disease, you may be able to get a full mouth reconstruction to help restore your smile!

Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD)

These disorders commonly affect the jaw and the muscles that control the jaw, but they can also affect your bite and teeth wear. Symptoms of jaw muscle pain, ongoing jaw problems, poor bite, and headaches could all point to a TMD. You may qualify for a full mouth reconstruction if orthodontics is unable to correct your bite or joint pain!

Your smile is one of the most important things about you. It gives you the confidence to smile and speak, it helps you chew food, and it keeps your facial structure intact to prevent an aging appearance. Talk to your dentist to see if you’re a candidate for a full mouth reconstruction. Life’s too short to go without a beautiful smile!

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What Are All-on- Four Dental Implants?

All-on- Four dental implants allow you to get only four to six dental implants and get a custom set of teeth that permanently attach to the implants for a beautiful, perfect smile. The cost is lower than getting a full set of dental implants and you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of dental implants without having to replace all of your teeth with them.

Benefits of All-on- Four Dental Implants

All-on- Four dental implants allow you to take advantage of the benefits that dental implants offer while only getting four or six dental implants. This includes the strength and stability that dental implants give, as they’re anchored securely into your jawbone and they never need to be replaced. With dentures, people often worry about them falling out, sliding around, or appearing uneven in their mouths. None of these are concerns with All-on- Four dental implants, which are secure and fully functional for your smile.

Enjoy eating, smiling, and talking with your beautiful set of teeth securely attached to your dental implants. Dental implants also allow you the benefit of re-growing some of the bone in your jaw, therefore helping to keep your cheeks from appearing sunken from tooth loss and retain a youthful appearance.

All-on-Four dental implants offer you complete functionality, restore your appearance, and allow you to be confident and comfortable with your smile again. All-on- Four dental implants may even be able to be completed in one day if your dentist makes your acrylic teeth replacement in-office.

Who Is a Candidate?

All-on- Four dental implants are meant to permanently replace your missing teeth, so talk with your dentist about whether or not you’d be a candidate for the procedure. You need to have the proper amount of bone in your jaw in order to support the dental implants. It’s also important that your mouth and gum tissue is healthy to maximize your chances of healing after the procedure.

Dental implants offer you a great alternative to dentures, but All-on-Four dental implants can offer you an easier procedure that competes with the security and functionality that dental implants offer. Restore your smile and ask your dentist about All-on-Four dental implants if you’re missing all, or many, of your natural teeth to see if you’d qualify for this procedure!

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What Is Full Mouth Reconstruction?

Full mouth reconstruction is an extensive procedure to restore the oral health of a patient. Treatment may be performed in a number of ways. Here are a few treatment options:

Dental Implants – To replace missing teeth, dental implants may be used. This involves implanting a titanium post to hold a custom made crown.

Bridges – In some cases, a bridge may be used when there is just a small gap due to a missing tooth. The bridge is held by crowns that are placed on the two surrounding teeth.

Bone Grafts – Sometimes, teeth are lost due to a decrease in bone density. This makes it difficult to get a dental implant to graft properly. A bone graft may need to be performed before any other dental work can take place.

Dentures – If all of a person’s teeth need to be replaced, dentures are a less expensive option than implants (and are more likely to be covered by insurance).

Crowns – Crowns are placed over damaged teeth to keep them from deteriorating further. This allows a patient to keep their original tooth. However, the coloration and shape of the cap will not only protect the tooth but allow it to match the rest of the mouth.

Fillings – Fillings keep cavities from causing further problems. Cavities can often be filled with a composite substance that matches the tooth color.

Who Is it For?

It is easier to understand situations that make full mouth reconstruction necessary now that we have discussed the processes involved. Some of these circumstances are:

– Individuals who are missing teeth.

– Victims of an accident that has caused oral damaged

– Victims of a disease that has caused oral damage

– People who have multiple cavities, cracked teeth, or other oral care problems

– Individuals suffering from bone loss contributing to lost teeth

– People who have experienced significant damage due to gum disease

– Anyone who is not happy with their smile and wants to improve it with modern dentistry

The fact is that full mouth reconstruction can help anyone from the elderly who are experiencing problems to those who are looking to make their smile more aesthetically pleasing. Whether the damage was caused by an accident and needs to be performed in an emergency or is the result of years of wear and damage, the final product can be a smile that you are happy to show off and a mouth that allows you to talk and chew normally.

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Some examples of dental reconstruction procedures include:

Periodontal treatment – This is treatment for gum disease, which may include cleaning, scaling and root planing.

Restorative dental treatment – This involves repairing or replacing decayed, damaged or missing teeth. Restorative procedures may include full or partial dentures, bridges, crowns, implants or some combination of any of these.

Cosmetic dentistry – Cosmetic treatments to improve the appearance of the teeth can be part of the reconstruction process. These might include veneers, bonding or teeth whitening.

Surgical procedures – In some cases, oral surgery may be part of a full mouth reconstruction. If a decision has been made to pull teeth rather than attempting to save them, this may be done by an oral surgeon depending on how many teeth need to be extracted and the condition of the teeth and surrounding gums. Procedures to save some teeth, such as root canal therapy, may be involved. Implants require surgery to the gums, and in some cases, bone grafting may also be performed.

Orthodontics – Braces, invisible aligners, retainers and other methods of moving and straightening teeth may be employed either alone or as part of a full mouth reconstruction when some other treatment is necessary (such as tooth extraction) prior to orthodontics being used.

A full mouth reconstruction that involves several different procedures will take a period of time to complete, with healing time necessary between each step. In many cases more than one dentist will be involved in the reconstruction, such as when surgery or orthodontics are part of the reconstruction. Dental Reconstruction can be a large and often complicated process, but the smile yielded is more than worth it!

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