Nowadays, quality dentistry means careful, effective and painless treatment. But, unfortunately, fear of dentists is still a common phenomenon, especially among people who had a chance to encounter dental services several decades ago, when they were accompanied by unpleasant sensations.
In the case of our patient, a 38-year-old charismatic and attractive man, fear of dentists, and consequently, untimely treatment, resulted in the loss of many teeth, and some were so destroyed that they could not be restored.
His spouse, who had previously been successfully treated at City Smile, shared her positive impressions and persuaded him to come to us.
At the first consultation, which begins any serious treatment, we formed a detailed plan, divided the work into stages and calculated the approximate total cost of all works. Also, taking into account the patient’s fear of dental procedures, it was decided that the dental implantation should be carried out under anesthesia.
Preparing for workMedicated sleep (sedation) or anesthesia is recommended for patients with a strong fear of dental intervention, as well as for complex and lengthy manipulations. Modern sedation techniques are practically harmless and allow even children to be treated in a state of sleep
Then followed a comprehensive professional hygienic cleaning of the teeth and a simple periodontal treatment, after which we conducted a revision of the destroyed teeth in the process of which we found out which teeth can be treated and left, and which, unfortunately, must be extracted, as the prognosis for their treatment is unfavorable. Accordingly, it became clear where and how many implants we would need to install.
SanitationAfter that came the stage of sanitation – treatment of cavities, filling of canals, in general, putting all teeth with a favorable prognosis in order.
Sanitation in dentistry is a set of measures aimed at improving the oral cavity. The purpose of sanitation is to identify and eliminate foci of infection, inflammatory processes and other pathological changes in order to prevent the development of diseases of teeth and gums. This process includes diagnosis, treatment and prevention of dental problems
At this stage, a pleasant metamorphosis took place: the patient stopped being afraid of dental procedures, became convinced that modern local anesthesia works perfectly and decided that he did not need anesthesia for implant placement. We have conquered the long-standing fear of dentists, it is a thing of the past, and we hope it will never return!
It was time for implantation, a very demanding procedure as we needed to place 7 implants. We made two surgical templates and placed all the implants in 1 visit. This is not a quick process, the manipulations lasted for five hours, but our patient was ready for it and sat in the chair as long as necessary, because he wanted to complete this important stage at once.
An implant is not an artificial tooth in general, but a titanium post that serves as a support for crowns, bridges or removable dentures. In order for the implant to become a replacement tooth, a dental crown is placed on it
A few more days later, we met to place temporary crowns on the implants, as well as temporary crowns on those severely decayed teeth we were able to save.
Next we had to wait for the integration (engraftment) of the implants, so there was a pause in the work for 4 months.
Total RestorationImplant integration, or osseointegration, is the process of fusing the implant to the bone tissue. Once a dental implant is placed, it should become a stable part of the jaw, allowing it to withstand chewing forces just like a natural tooth. Integration of implants usually takes 3 to 6 months. Our statistic is that 98.3% of implants are successfully integrated, which is a source of pride for our doctors
In this case, the result was also excellent – all the implants successfully took root (integrated), and it was possible to move forward according to our plan to the final goal – a complete restoration of the dentition or, as dentists call it, a total restoration.
For this, we took impressions for wax modeling to simulate the correct occlusal planes and the beautiful and correct shape of the teeth – ahead of us was the fabrication of the veneers.
Placement of veneersOcclusion is the contact between the teeth of the upper and lower jaw when the jaws are locked together. The term encompasses both the position of the teeth at rest (when the jaws are fully clenched) and their interaction during movement (e.g., chewing or speaking). Correct occlusion is the key to aesthetics, tooth function, temporomandibular joint health, and the longevity of prosthetic structures (veneers, crowns, etc.).
When the future smile was modeled, the stage of preparing the teeth for veneers – preparation (removal of a small layer of enamel from the surface of the teeth to create a place for the veneers and ensure their secure attachment). Next, the orthopedist took impressions for the fabrication of veneers and crowns, and in two weeks everything was ready for fitting the structures.
Veneers are thin (0.3 mm) onlays made of ceramic or composite material, which are placed on the front surface of the teeth to improve their appearance and sometimes correct the bite
Trying them on showed that the designs look great and do not need any corrections. This is not always the case, sometimes adjustments have to be made, but more often than not everything fits perfectly at once, as it did this time.
So we immediately set about fixing the permanent structures. That’s it! The new smile is ready, it looks perfect, the occlusion is correct, the patient does not have any unpleasant sensations in the mouth, but just in case, you need to wear it for a week, get used to it, listen to the sensations and in a week come for a checkup.
Finishing visitThe final visit implies an appointment with two doctors – a periodontist (who checks the condition of the gums and, if necessary, removes the remnants of fixative material) and an orthopedist (who checks the correct occlusion, the functioning of the teeth in different planes). This is followed by a final photographic protocol – taking pictures of the result.
The final comparison of what was and what has become is also interesting for the patient. After a rather long recovery time, the patient often does not even remember exactly where this long but productive journey began.
Photo protocol in good dentistry is both a necessity and a rule of good taste. It should be carried out at each stage of work to record the initial state and the final result of the manipulations. The presence of a photoprotocol in the clinic not only helps doctors, but also protects against poor-quality and dishonest services – you can always pull up the information and see what, when and how it was done
The work was quite complicated and long – from the first visit to the final result was 7 months, of which 4 months we were waiting for the integration of implants. Let us briefly list all the stages of treatment to summarize this happy story of smile transformation and complete restoration of the dentition
