Dental Implants and Ceramic Crowns for Smile Makeover

A 52 year old female approached our dental hospital, wanting to replace the missing teeth in her upper and lower anteriors. Patient gives a history of extraction of a couple of her upper and lower anteriors done due to severe mobility  5 years back which made it difficult for her to chew food. Since there was space between the front teeth, she was not able to pronounce few words properly, thus hampering her speech. She was worried that her gap would widen more in the future if left untreated. Her inability to have a proper oral function affected her well being. Patient gives a medical history of diabetes for the past 10 years and under medication.

On clinical examination, the upper left central incisor, lower central incisors and a couple of her posterior teeth were all missing. The remaining upper and lower anteriors exhibhited grade2 mobility. On radiological examination OPG taken shows generalized bone loss with regard to periodontally week teeth. A thorough blood investigation revealed blood glucose level under control.

After complete examination of the patient and considering her demand to replace the missing upper and lower anteriors only, Dr.S.M.Balaji planned to extract the shaking teeth and replace it with dental implants under local anesthesia. The procedure was explained to the patient and approval was obtained to go ahead with the treatment plan.

Patient was asked to take antibiotics and painkillers for a period of 5 days. Patient was educated and motivated on home oral care regime. The dental implants would take a minimum duration of 3 months to completely osseointegrate with the jaw bone. Until then, a temporary prosthesis was given to the patient to replace the missing teeth.

Patient reported after 4 months. Post-operative x-ray (OPG) taken shows well consolidated dental implants with the jaw bone. Aesthetically natural looking ceramic prosthesis was fixed on to the implants, thus taking off the worrisome days of the patient. The patient was very much pleased with the look. She felt an immediate betterment in her speech. Having been satisfied with the outcome, patient showed keen interest to restore her missing posterior teeth with dental implants at a later date.