It’s tough not knowing which of several dental issues should be addressed first when multiple aspects of your smile are impacted by the same issue. This is where full-mouth reconstruction helps those in need of more than just a filling, a single crown, or other isolated cosmetic dental fix. The full-mouth reconstruction process at Prostho Endo Dental Group in North Bethesda, MD, combines restorative dentistry, prosthodontics, endodontics, bite analysis, and careful planning to restore oral health. We focus on your function, comfort, esthetics, and stability.
How Complex Dental Conditions Occur
It rarely happens all at once when complicated dental problems occur. Many of those who are seeking full-mouth reconstruction have years of tooth wear, missing teeth, broken or deteriorated restorations, failing gums, a bite that doesn’t work together, oral trauma, or untreated dental infection. Or, the crowns, bridges, fillings, and dentures they have may no longer support the dental work the mouth requires.
Before any rebuilding can occur, we need to know the cause of the problem. If tooth wear from grinding, clenching, bite force, or jaw misalignment goes untreated, the newly restored teeth will be just as subject to damage as their original counterpart. A missing tooth that changes the bite can lead to shifting or overload of other teeth. We need to know and treat these conditions before they can be repaired, so there is a better outcome. At Prostho Endo Dental Group, we’re not only repairing the damage that was done, but we also treat the problem that led to the damage in the first place.
Planning The Full-Mouth Reconstruction
Treatment doesn’t start immediately for a full-mouth reconstruction. We plan the treatment first, using digital imaging, x-rays, photos, bite evaluation, periodontal assessment, individual tooth assessments, and a look over at what’s currently in place. This helps to assess whether the patient will keep their natural teeth and determine what areas need support and where they need replacement.
Full-mouth reconstruction allows for the opportunity to review the process and understand it better. It helps you understand what the next step is going to be in a step-by-step process involving crowns, bridges, dental implants, root canal therapy, veneers, dentures, periodontal procedures, and the like.
Rebuilding Oral Health Step By Step
Not every single dental procedure is needed right away for full-mouth reconstruction. We often have to work step-by-step. This is to maintain comfort, prioritize what needs to be done, and create the best foundation for the work that will follow. We address active discomfort, infection, broken teeth, disease, etc., first, and then rebuild from there.
Working this way helps you feel as though you’re in control of what’s going on. We prioritize bite correction, chewing improvement, teeth replacement, and more for a more comfortable smile for you. Prostho Endo Dental Group will take you from not knowing where to start to a better and more predictable result.
Bringing Back Function & Comfort
It is not all about cosmetic improvement that comes with full-mouth reconstruction. When natural teeth are missing, damaged, or worn down, it can become difficult to chew, talk, and smile without stress. The discomfort you’re feeling can get so bad that you don’t want to do any of the above. Restorative care is designed to put your teeth, bite, gums, and jaw in better balance.
The goal is for your restoration to feel natural, stable, and supportive. While the result can be a beautiful smile that gives you a real confidence boost, that confidence really begins with the knowledge that your teeth can perform their normal functions in your daily life.
Treating Severe Wear, Tooth Loss, & Bite Problems
Severe wear changes the contours and length of the teeth, as well as how they look. It can also change the way your upper and lower teeth fit together. Tooth loss can add extra strain to the mouth as other teeth may shift into empty spaces and take on more weight. Your bite may be one of the reasons for your headaches, TMJ disorder symptoms, broken dental work, or tooth damage.
Full-mouth rehabilitation allows all these problems to be fixed in a coordinated manner. Treatment may include returning a tooth or teeth to normal form and size, adding teeth with implants or crowns and bridges, adjusting your bite, and, if the right patient, fitting you with a nightguard for your protection. For patients in North Bethesda, MD, who have been told they have complex dental needs, full-mouth reconstruction is a very thorough and sensible way to improve oral health.
Team Care With Several Experts
A great aspect of Prostho Endo Dental Group is our ability to get different expert opinions and bring them into the treatment plan. Complex full-mouth cases may require extensive restorative skills, specialty endodontic treatment to save existing teeth, implant placement and management, periodontal issues, and custom-designed prosthetic devices. When all these issues are addressed at one time, the plan is much better for all involved.
This type of cooperation also helps to prevent the problem of fragmented care. Teeth don’t exist in isolation, so it’s essential that all decisions made about restorations are considered in the broader context of the whole mouth and how the teeth interact. That’s especially important when rebuilding your bite, addressing multiple teeth, or putting in dental implants, crowns, and bridges alongside remaining teeth.
Custom Restorations Designed & Made In Our In-House Lab
Because full-mouth reconstruction requires many different restorative pieces in the mouth, the quality, shape, and fit of those pieces are of extreme importance. Our in-house lab at Prostho Endo Dental Group lets our restorative team work directly with the restorative specialist to ensure the best possible result. The lab can help with creating high-quality crowns, bridges, implant restorations, and veneers, as well as other kinds of custom restorations that need strength and durability along with a natural, pleasing appearance.
We use our in-house lab so that we can tailor the restorations to our patients’ specific needs. It is possible for us to make very precise decisions about the shape, shade, contact points, and fit of every restoration, along with the patient’s overall dental profile. We aim to give the patient teeth that don’t look like they were added later on, but a smile that feels balanced and well-suited for the person receiving it.
Long-Term Health With Full-Mouth Treatment
To truly succeed with full-mouth reconstruction, the treatment must have lasting results. That means that all treatment patients follow through with it and that they receive follow-up care, maintenance, oral hygiene, protective appliances, and regular evaluation of the restorations and their bite. We give patients advice on taking good care of the treatment and the restoration, as well as preserving the quality of the care they received.
At Prostho Endo Dental Group, we believe that patients’ comprehensive treatment is so important for full-mouth cases. Using thorough planning, specialized treatment options, and custom restorations, we will help patients get a new and lasting smile. For patients who feel that their oral health is an overwhelming problem, full-mouth reconstruction may help them feel confident and comfortable in their new smile and with their oral health again.