10 Crucial Decisions You’ll Have to Make For Full Mouth Reconstruction

Full mouth reconstructions are an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. They’re major works with almost irreversible repercussions in your mouth. In fact, some of the repercussions are irreversible — you can’t put teeth back in once they’re extracted.

Some concerns people have with their teeth can just as easily be addressed with simpler and easier procedures.

There are dishonest people in any industry. It’s entirely possible you’ll find a dentist who tries to talk you into a full mouth restoration when you don’t need one. Know your goal, and check what your options are.

That being said, there are plenty of people who don’t need full mouth restorations who get them because they do want them.Many of our patients in their later years decided to get full mouth reconstructions even though they don’t need them. The reasoning is generally around the lines of “I have maybe 10, 15 years left to live. I’m getting the teeth I always wanted and living out the best damn years of my life while I still can.”

And that’s also fine, so long as it’s your decision.

A full mouth restoration is a major work often involving a lot of surgery. Are you in good health for it? Are you even suitable? Let’s break it down based on the types of full mouth reconstruction.

Full Mouth Restoration with Crowns:

• Are you just here for crooked teeth? Maybe you don’t need a full mouth reconstruction — braces are often the best bet.
• Are your teeth in generally good health? You might just need some fillings or crowns. If the teeth are in good condition, fillings, crowns, veneers or whitening are often all you need to create beautiful Hollywood smiles.

Full Mouth Reconstruction with Dental Implants:

• Do you have enough bone? Dental implants require good bone volume to properly anchor the new teeth into place and provide optimum support. If you’ve been missing teeth for too long, or have too advanced periodontal disease, you might not be able to get dental implants.
• Do you have bone disorders such as osteoporosis? Osteoporosis may prevent you from getting dental implants, but it’s not definite. Let your full mouth reconstruction dentist know of any bone disorders you may have so they can accurately assess your candidacy.
• Are you a heavy smoker? Smoking is a major contra-indicator for any type of oral surgery as it drastically increases the risk of post-operative infections.
• Do you have any kind of uncontrolled systemic disease? Hypertension, diabetes, and bleeding disorders can all preclude you from dental implants.
• Have you recently undergone cancer treatments within the last 6 months? This may prevent you from getting full mouth dental reconstruction.
• Do you have any major age-related issues?

Any honest dentist will tell you that it is always preferable to keep natural teeth. Preserving natural teeth lets you eat better, taste better, and let’s face it, saves a lot of money.

Some less-than-honest dentists, on the other hand, might try to convince you to remove otherwise healthy teeth. Extractions and full mouth reconstructions are much higher-ticket items for a dentist than crowns, bridges or veneers. But if you don’t need it, then you’re doing irreparable damage to your mouth for something you could have avoided.

That’s not to say any dentist recommending extracting teeth is trying to fool you. Some teeth will be too damaged, decayed or diseased to be saved. But be wary of anyone who seems overly keen to start pulling teeth and starting over.

Very broadly speaking, full mouth reconstructions break down into two types:

Type One: Restore Existing Teeth

The dentist uses a variety of restorative techniques to maintain your natural teeth as much as possible. This typically involves using:

• Crowns on (almost) every tooth.
• Fillings to repair cavities and decay.
• Root canals to save badly infected teeth from further decay.
• Dental bridges or implants to replace individual teeth or small sections of missing teeth.

Type Two: Full Mouth Implant Restoration

The dentist extracts any remaining teeth and replaces them with full mouth implants.
Full mouth implants come in several flavors, the most popular of which are:

• Overdentures, with 4-6 implants per jaw.
• All-on-4, which uses just 4 implants on each jaw.
• Fixed bridge implants, with 4-8 implants per jaw.

This is something a lot of people don’t even stop to think about when they get full mouth reconstructions. You don’t need to be stuck with your original tooth color. You also don’t need to get obviously fake, super-white teeth. When you get a full mouth reconstruction, you can choose the exact shade of white you want for your teeth.

Things to consider would be your age, skin color, and any existing restorations you may have. Going for a natural color will make your new teeth less obvious.

Much like people don’t stop to think about color, many don’t stop to think about size and shape. Do you want the teeth to be longer or shorter than they are now? Or the same size? More rounded — common for women — or more square — common for men?

Take the time to consider this. You’ll have these teeth for the rest of your life — make sure they look how you want them to. Your dentist or prosthodontist will have input, but at the end of the day, it’s your call.

The exact material you use to get your restoration done — be it crowns or implants — is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. The material will affect the cost, look, and durability of your reconstruction. Always ask your dentist for a choice of materials.

Any surgery requires a lot of consideration. There are many things you will want to think about and make sure to check with your dentist:

• Will you be using local or IV sedation? Let your dentist know about any conditions that might influence the choice.
• Are you an extremely anxious patient? It can sometimes be necessary to get general anesthetic. Find out what your options are.
• What is the recovery time? There will be swelling after surgery, and you’ll want to avoid working immediately afterwards. How long will you need to take off?
• How will you get to and from surgery? Someone will need to get you home. Make sure you have reliable transport arranged.
• Will you have someone to look after you? As above, it’s best to have someone who can stay with you for the days immediately following the surgery.
• What food will you eat? You’ll need to be on a diet of soft foods immediately post-surgery. It might be a good time to discover what soups and shakes you enjoy eating because you’ll be having a lot of them for a while.

Every procedure comes with risks. Every. Single. One. And one as complex as a full mouth reconstruction can carry the risk of several different procedures all in one.

Full Mouth Crown Restoration Risks

• Your dentist might do a bad job fitting the crowns, resulting in an imbalanced bite.
• Crowns might not get sealed properly, breeding decay beneath them.
• Your dentist might discover some of your teeth require root canal treatment.
• Risk of receding gums.
• Crowns can fail and crack.

Full Mouth Implant Restoration Risks

• Damage to the nerves within the jawbone.
• Short term loss of implants.
• Long-term loss of implants.
• Risk of infection from surgery.
• Sinus perforation of the implants.
• Incorrect bite after placing the teeth.
• All-on-4: If one implant fails, most of the rest of the procedure needs to be redone.