Full Mouth Reconstruction | Melbourne Dentist

Diagnosis is difficult enough for an experienced dentist when it comes to full mouth re-builds. If you suffer from one or more of the following issues, you may be a candidate for complete rehabilitation:

Long term destructive gum disease causing loose teeth and teeth loss
Heavily broken down and decayed teeth
Loose and uncomfortable dentures
Long term bite imbalance leading to jaw, head and neck pains

We’ve entered a new era of increased life expectancy.
Many people approaching retirement wonder how they should prepare their bodies for longer life…but how many people consider their teeth in this equation?

I’m now seeing more and more people in their 70’s and 80’s suffering unnecessarily with very poor oral health because they didn’t prepare early enough.

And oral health is integral to general health on so many different levels.
Comfort, nutrition and self-esteem are the ones that readily come to mind. But recent research has shown poor oral health can also directly contribute to developing heart disease, diabetes instability, stroke, and kidney disease.

As an experienced clinician, an ever-growing segment of people in my practice were looking for a premium diagnostic service – this prompted me to develop my “Executive Oral Health Check”.

Not everyone I see would benefit from such a service, but if you’re over 50 and life’s been fast so you’ve overlooked your dental health, or you’re just not confident with your teeth and when your next dental crisis will be, consider our executive health check.

So, if you’re looking for a new dental team to help you obtain and keep a healthy white smile beyond retirement, you’ve come to the right place!

Take up one of our two introductory offers – find confidence in your dental health, determine your dental health action plan, and possess your own personal roadmap to better oral health and wellness.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE ORAL HEALTH CHECK

Are your teeth “Terminal” or “Rebuildable”?

Sometimes the distinction is clear-cut.

If many of your teeth are missing, and those that remain are badly broken down and infected, or they’re poorly positioned and have terrible gum support, then its probably time to remove all of your remaining teeth and begin to talk about your options of full dentures, or implants to replace all of your teeth.

Alternatively, if you have many teeth weakened by large fillings but only a few teeth missing, it may be best to consider the rebuilding of the weakened teeth using porcelain, and replacing single teeth with single implants or bridges.

But many times the distinction is not clear-cut.

There’s a middle ground where you could go either way.
And this is where we have to help you make decisions that are sometimes complex in nature. It’s up to us to provide you with clear pathways, giving you risks and benefits for each. Giving you an idea of what sort of longevity you’d expect from each option, so that you can make your decision with no regrets.

And your decision will be a balancing act between competing influences, one of which is your own personal preferences – would you prefer a clean slate, or would you prefer to keep your own teeth wherever possible.
When we’re given the freedom to choose whatever treatment is best for our patients, the 2 important factors that often decide the direction that we take are gum support and teeth positions.

Gum support

Gum disease is a mostly silent disease that will eventually destroy the foundations of the teeth it effects. Once present to a moderate or advanced level, it can be difficult to control and maintain over the long term. So if critical teeth in your bite are compromised by this disease, some difficult decisions may need to be made. And this is where we really like you to be honest with yourself and what you believe is realistically possible for you into the future.

Teeth that are the cornerstones to a complex plan will require regular maintenance over time. This not only means that you have to ensure they’re looked after daily, but you will need to commit to a regular professional maintenance program that you religiously attend. A couple of faltering steps with the loss of some critical supporting teeth, and the whole bite system that’s been developed may begin to be overloaded and at increased risk.

Active gum disease is also a serious risk factor for implants in close proximity. So if you replace lost teeth with implants and fail to control gum disease on other teeth in your mouth, you may be putting your implant investment at risk.

If you do decide that you wish to keep your remaining teeth and use them as the basis on which to rebuild your bite, we offer a fantastic hygiene program. Our skilled and experienced hygienists will help you maintain the investment you have made in your mouth.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR HYGIENE PRORAM

Teeth positions

Sometimes it’s the position that your teeth find themselves in that’s a major contributor to their breakdown. Teeth can grow into a poor position, or drift into an inappropriate position over time. They can end up sitting in a place where the load they are asked to take in your bite is more than what they are designed for. This leads to them wearing out or breaking down at a higher rate than you’d expect – even when you’ve use the best rebuilding techniques to repair them.

These poorly positioned teeth do not always need to be removed to get a result – they can often be moved into a better position. Orthodontic braces or clear aligners such as Invisalign are not just used for the very young. We regularly organise to move teeth into better positions to get a more ideal and long lasting result.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MOVING TEETH

Services used in rehabilitations

Dental Crowns

A crown covers the whole tooth and acts to splint and protect it from breaking or fracturing. You get to keep the tooth for longer with less complications and very likely less cost in the long run.

Dental bridges

A dental bridge is a more traditional technique to replace missing teeth. It utilises the teeth either side of a space to support a fixed appliance.
While dental implants are the best option in most instances these days, there is definitely still a place for this technique in modern dentistry.
Currently, the most common use for a bridge is to replace a single tooth, where the teeth either side of the space also warrant stabilisation and protection with crowns.

Implants

A dental implant is essentially a threaded post that replaces a lost tooth root – the unseen portion of the tooth.
They can be used to replace a single tooth, multiple teeth, or all teeth.

Implants to support dentures

An ‘Overdenture’ is very similar to a traditional denture with one major exception: it snaps onto underlying dental implants placed into the jaw.
In their simplest form, they are an easy and affordable option that combines the stability of implants with the economy of dentures.

Implants to 'fix' dentures - All-On-4 or All-On-6

As little as 4 implants can be used to secure a brand new set of teeth, and provide a permanent and fixed solution to a complex dental problem.

Porcelain veneers and Digital Smile Design

On many occasions, the breakdown of back teeth and the loss of bite support as a result, will lead to the front teeth being aggressively worn or damaged. So we’re very often asked to restore the function and beauty of front teeth in an extremely reliable and predictable manner.

Orthodontics

Moving teeth into a better position will often allow more conservative rebuilding of your teeth and will provide greater control of the overall function of your new bite – this is often safer for your teeth and gives a much nicer, balanced result.

Occlusal Splints

Balancing your bite by completely redesigning and rebuilding it will help to even out bite forces and protect each individual tooth from being overloaded. But for some people, part of the reason they require such an overhaul can be years of overloading from a grinding or clenching habit. Unfortunately, there’s no way to predictably stop a “grinder” from continuing this habit in their sleep. So to protect your investment, a night guard may be well worthwhile..