“Carol” was referred to our office by her general dentist due to her complex dental situation. She had a history of periodontal disease and cavities. She had been caring for her husband up until his recent passing and was not taking care the best care of her mouth.
Dr. Manchester examined her mouth and went over options for Carol. After listening to her options, Carol was interested in having dental implants placed to support her future denture teeth. She decided to go with implants instead of a conventional denture because she did not want the roof of her mouth covered by a denture for her final set of denture teeth. After the impressions and records for her temporary set of teeth were made, her first set of denture teeth were set up for her to look at and approve. During this appointment, Carol wished to have a space between her two front teeth to more closely match her natural smile. These changes were made by the doctor and sent back to the laboratory for final processing.
Carol’s case is a perfect example of our team approach to patient care. We worked closely with a local oral maxillofacial surgeon who sedated Carol, extracted her remaining teeth and placed her implants. I saw Carol the very next day to adjust her upper denture and for converting her lower denture onto the implants so that she had a temporary fixed implant denture. Carol healed without any problems and routine adjustments were made to her temporary upper denture.
After 4 months of healing, Carol was completely healed and ready for her upper implants to be attached to the denture teeth. The final impressions were performed for her final upper and lower implant dentures. The upper was designed to be removable and the lower was designed to be permanently fixed in place.
The delivery day of the final implant dentures went smoothly. Now Carol’s upper denture was not covering the roof of her mouth. Carol returned for a 3-day follow-up for minor adjustments. Carol was very pleased with the restoration of her smile.
