A brand new smile for Graham

Graham has been a patient of ours for over a decade. He came in to see Principal Dentist Donal O’Halloran having fractured his upper front bridge, which had been in place for many years. Unfortunately, the reason it had broken was because he had been grinding his teeth very heavily, causing the supporting teeth to become fractured beyond repair.

Donal undertook a lengthy bridge reconstruction, dental implantation and lower tooth rebuild over a period of five months.

Before (1)

Diagnosis and First Step

Graham’s tooth grinding had caused extensive damage, so unfortunately I had to remove his front teeth. We had to act quickly to get some temporary front teeth back in for him, to make sure he could still eat and go about his days as easily as possible. I scanned his mouth using our intra-oral scanner and had a denture made within three days.

I mounted models of his teeth on an artificial jaw and we created a wax mock-up of what could be achieved by building up his lower front teeth with composite filling material. All wax mock ups, diagnostics and final porcelain work was carried out by technician Stephen Lusty.

IMG 1723

Protecting Against Future Damage

Following a detailed consultation, Graham decided to go for two dental implants to carry a new bridge for his upper front teeth followed by a rebuild of his lower teeth. This also included a realignment of his lower jaw to reduce pressure on the new implants and give them as long a life as possible.

I then went on to address the tooth grinding problem. I made an appliance for him to wear which protected his teeth from his grinding habit. This ensures the bridge and rebuilt lower teeth are protected from future damage, so this problem shouldn’t happen again.

After (1)

The Result

I carried out all this treatment over a period of 5 months and Graham is now able to smile, eat and speak confidently without a denture and with teeth that look very natural like they did many years ago.

Treating cases like this is a real joy, as it gives the patient a life changing outcome and it challenges a lot of different aspects of very complex dentistry for me. I needed to be able address the tooth grinding issue causing the wear and failure of the bridge in the first place.

I then needed to place and restore some implants with a bridge, rebuild the lower teeth with filling material, finally giving the patient a functioning dentition again without the need to wear a denture.

A hugely rewarding experience for both Patient and Dentist!

“I have been a patient at Penryn Dental Practice for around 11 years now, having regular check-ups, maintenance and the occasional repair. I have always felt happy and confident in the team, who are very pleasant, conscientious and efficient. The clinicians are a highly skilled team. I would not have embarked on this course had I not had the complete confidence in the abilities of Donal to achieve what we discussed.

It’s been a few months since my treatment and I am thoroughly enjoying the result. I am so pleased with the outcome, which has exceeded all my expectations. Thank you so much to Donal and the rest of the team.”

Graham