Full Mouth Reconstruction: Joe 2

Description

Positive feedback is a powerful incentive when it comes to recommending dental professionals to your friends. But when it comes to recommending them to your relatives, you really know you’ve been doing something right! After seeing our work on family members, and because of their abiding satisfaction with it, Dr. Tabib’s uncle decided to seek us out for a long-overdue reconstruction. Until then, Joe had managed his dental work only on a tooth-by-tooth basis, or when there was a dental emergency that had to be addressed. Putting off a comprehensive reconstruction had taken a heavy toll on his teeth. He had ground down almost 40% of his tooth volume and had suffered a severe bite collapse as a result. He had also complained of ringing in his ears. This often occurs with ground-down teeth when the jaw starts to slip backwards, placing pressure on the ear canal. So, the first thing we needed to do was to reverse time; to find out how Joe’s upper and lower teeth had fit together when all his teeth were healthy, before the bite collapse had occurred. Fortunately for Joe, we now have advanced electronic instruments that can track jaw movement and muscle performance, and visualize them on the computer screen. We knew that Joe’s jaw had been forced backwards and up because of the falling domino sequence of tooth loss, excessive tooth grinding, facial muscle imbalance and possible spasm. In other words, a perfect storm! And we had a solution: We have learned that the most reliable way to determine correct jaw position is to begin by completely relaxing the muscles. We accomplished this goal with a J5 Myomonitor that delivers a mild, relaxing stimulus to the nerves of the facial muscles, which gradually releases muscular tension. Then we were able to register and record that ideal position to begin the work of reconstruction. While reconstruction is a complex process, this is the most important step in the process, and serves as the foundation for the development of beautifully rebuilt teeth and an enviable smile. For Joe, and for us, this was a collaborative process, working with our implant specialist, Dr. David Weinstein, to coordinate the placement of Joe’s implants. Because Joe’s treatment plan was particularly intricate (due to his long postponement of necessary interim work), it had to be performed at the highest level to ensure the longevity of his reconstruction. Nevertheless, we were able to reverse years of neglect and complete and rejuvenate his mouth in eight months. The improvement was nothing less than extraordinary, and Joe soon became accustomed to looking his best. Even though the camera never lies, when we showed him the pictures of his pre-reconstruction smile, he found them hard to believe. And we are proud to have a new advocate in the family.