Case Study – I Just Hate the Thought of Dentures

The patient was referred to see me because he hated his smile and bite. When I examined him, most of his back teeth were missing as were a couple of upper front teeth. His lower front teeth were also severely worn. He had worn dentures for many years and just could not tolerate them. To create a beautiful smile and teeth he can eat with, there are 3 broad options:

Option 1: aims to keep all his teeth with crown lengthening surgery, root canal treatments, new porcelain veneers/crowns on the teeth that are present and dental implants to replace the missing ones. This treatment option is what dentists’ would describe as the “textbook” option but it is the most expensive.

Option2: removal of all his remaining teeth, placement of 4-6 implants in the upper and lower jaws and provision of upper and lower fixed teeth. This works very well for most people who do not mind loosing their remaining teeth

Option 3: Removal of teeth that have abscesses, construction of fixed teeth in the upper jaw, removal of all the severely worn lower teeth and provision of new, well-made implant removable dentures.

From the multiple discussions with the patient, it was obvious that it would be very satisfied with all the options and so we provided option 3 and he was very happy.