Our patient Nataliya came to us with a major problem. First, she had a lower bridge supported by only a couple of teeth that was decayed and loose and about to fail. In addition, to add insult to injury, her existing implant retained fixed upper denture did not look “natural.”
In both circumstances, we agreed with her. Let’s look at her before photo:
Her lower bridge – which you can see – is about to fall out and fail. The teeth on her upper implant denture do not look natural at all.
When we snapped this photo, her lower bridge was being held in by Fixodent. But more noticeable are the teeth up top – but noticeable in a bad way. The teeth simply do not look natural (to be more specific, the plane of occlusion is all off, but that is beyond what most readers want to know).
With her lower teeth failing, we had to come up with a plan. And fast! Here it was:
- Extraction of her remaining lower teeth and the placement of four dental implants.
- Fabrication of a traditional lower denture for her to wear while the implants bonded into the bone.
- Fabrication of implant retained fixed dentures (basically, these are dentures that are screwed into place and don’t move – you will see photos).
Natilya’s Implant Retained Fixed Complete Dentures
The first order of business was for Nataliya to get the remaining teeth extracted and 4 implants placed. We’re not posting any photos of that because no one likes messy surgical photos. She wore a traditional lower denture while she healed.
We then began the process of fabricating new implant retained fixed complete dentures for the top and bottom. Here’s a good photo:
Photo on the left shows Nataliya without teeth and only the implants sticking out slightly. To the right are the upper and lower dentures which will be screwed into place. Photos and case by Dr. Nicholas Calcaterra.
In the clinical photo, we can see four implants each sticking out from Nataliya’s upper and lower jaws. To the right are her fixed implant dentures. The four metal “attachments” on the denture will get screwed into the implants. Once screwed in, the dentures do not move. They are the closest thing to natural teeth.
Naturally, we all want to see how these looked like in Nataliya’s mouth. So here goes:
Nataliya was all smiles when she was done, as you can see in the top photo. You can’t tell they’re dentures. The bottom shows a retracted view. Photos and dentistry Dr. Nicholas Calcaterra.
Nataliya had a big smile on her face. This is what we accomplished:
- Dentures that look natural (compare her smile to the initial one – in the initial photo, they just don’t look natural).
- Dentures that don’t move (they literally screwed into place!).
- Dentures that enable her to smile, talk, eat, and feel the way she used to when she had natural teeth.
Nataliya is now back to living her life normally and not worrying about her teeth. As she should.
