CASE OF FULL UPPER FULL DENTURE STABILIZATION WITH MINIS

And there you have it......a stabilized full upper denture that can be snapped on and off at will for whatever reason. Now she can smile and talk and eat and drink without being afraid that it will fall off at the most embarassing moments. You can do it for the uppers and you can do it for the lowers.

We also gave her some O-rings and an instrument called kaifoo to take out and replace the O-rings once they are worn out.

CASE OF FULL UPPER FULL DENTURE STABILIZATION WITH MINIS

The upper full denture was then snapped on to the implants on the upper jaw. They could also be snapped off at will by the patient whenever she wants for cleaning purposes mainly and sometimes just for fun. Oh, by the way, those tall looking teeth on the lower right are porcelain teeth built onto mini dental implants. They would have looked better with some pink gumwork.

CASE OF FULL UPPER FULL DENTURE STABILIZATION WITH MINIS

We then cold cured the O-rings and housings into the denture to correspond exactly to the mini O-ball head implants.

CASE OF FULL UPPER FULL DENTURE STABILIZATION WITH MINIS

So we placed 6 mini O-ball heads into the upper jaws. Minimally invasive, almost bloodless, and immediately load them.

CASE OF FULL UPPER FULL DENTURE STABILIZATION WITH MINIS

This patient's main complaint was that the upper full denture was too big and keeps falling down when she opens her mouth......a real nuisance and causes her untold misery because she loves to socialise. Please can you help?
This is what we did.

CASE OF FULL LOWER FALSE TEETH STABILISED BY MINI-IMPLANTS

The old gentleman lived another 6 years and died only recently.......but not until he had umpteen good well chewed meals.......and great enjoyment with the family at all sorts of cafes and restaurants! Minis can change your life for the better faster, cheaper.......and yes....I would dare say better than other alternatives because it is also very much less traumatic!

WATCH OUT FOR THE NEXT POSTING WHERE YOU WILL SEE AN UPPER FULL SET OF FALSE TEETH STABILIZED BY MINIS.

CASE OF FULL LOWER FALSE TEETH STABILISED BY MINI-IMPLANTS

The lower false teeth could now be snapped-on and snapped-off by the patient himself after some practice and a little guidance. Just about 2 hour job and voila!........That very night, our 76 year old began to eat again and......to enjoy his food again!  He was no more shy of going out with the family to eat anymore. His life was changed!........for the better!

CASE OF FULL LOWER FALSE TEETH STABILISED BY MINI-IMPLANTS

Then, we made 4 holes where the minis were and using O-rings and housings, we cold-cured them to the false set of teeth ........to create a minor miracle!

CASE OF FULL LOWER FALSE TEETH STABILISED BY MINI-IMPLANTS

First, we placed in 4 O-ball head mini-implants inter foraminally.

CASE OF FULL LOWER FALSE TEETH STABILISED BY MINI-IMPLANTS

Hello. This is a case of a 76 year old man who has lost interest in living because he cannot eat properly anymore.
His son said that he wanted to die because his lower false teeth moved everytime he tried to chew and he felt very miserable. This is what we did.

REMOVABLE FALSE TEETH FOR THE UPPER JAW

K. F. Chow BDS., FDSRCS July 19th, 2010

If you are placing 5 conventional implants, you might as well place one more to make it 6 and have a fixed prosthesis. A fixed prosthesis will be more reliable than a removable one because there will be less pulling and pushing of the implant during removal and placement if a removable is used.

And some will also convince you that 4 is enough….all on four.

But if you are placing minis for a removable prosthesis, then place 6 for balance, three on each side between the centrals to the premolars. Place the longest you can and bicortical if possible, because the maxillary bone is softer….and therefore more piling is needed….yeah…like building a house….see.

Bone augmentation is unnecessary and very difficult, as is suggested by Dr Richard Hughes. To raise the height of the maxillary ridge, you will have to use a titanium mesh with bone graft mixed with bone marrow…..and it will take a much longer time, incur more pain to the mouth as well as the pocket.

Go with minis and forget about the bone graft as there will be adequate aesthetics with an acrylic prosthesis with plenty of pink acrylic to fill up the deficiencies.

One Implant Supports 2 Lower Incisors

K. F. Chow BDS., FDSRCS July 14th, 2010

Even if the patient is willing to pay, Black’s principle of “Conservation of sound tooth structure” should not be forgotten.

The two incisors looks alive and sound to me. The conservative option should always be considered first before other options in the name of aesthetics and “patient willing to pay”.

One Implant Supports 2 Lower Incisors

• K. F. Chow BDS., FDSRCS July 14th, 2010
  Yes. Definitely yes, because one 3.5mm diameter implant of length 12mm will have as much if not more surface area than the existing 2 periodontally involved incisors. And we all know that an ankylosed tooth/implant is much more difficult to remove than a periodontal ligamentalised tooth, area for area. Probably half the surface area will do.

  And it will prevent loss of the adjacent periodontally involved incisors provided they are root-planed at the same time. Even better if they are splinted to the implant.

  Two 1.8mm diameter minis will also suffice. A removable prosthesis is a no no because it will speed up the loss of the incisors, seeing that they are already periodontally compromised and probably mobile.

  Please…..no extractions as far as possible. You might as well do a conventional 4unit bridge on the 2 incisors…than to extract them.
• K. F. Chow BDS., FDSRCS July 14th, 2010
  We must not subcumb to the hubris of thinking that our dental implants are better than real living teeth with real living periodontal ligaments. They are a very good imitation…….only an imitation..though a damn good one.

MY TAKE ON BIOLOGIC WIDTH IN DENTAL IMPLANTS

• K. F. Chow BDS., FDSRCS July 4th, 2010
  “Biologic width” as I understand it( please correct me if I am wrong), was a term borrowed from prosthodontics. It denotes the observed resultant distance that develops between the crown-abutment margin of a natural tooth and the crestal bone level when the margin is placed less than 2mm to the crestal bone level. The observed distance or “biological width” is about 2mm.

  It means that if we place the crown-abutment margin less than 2mm distance to the crestal bone level, the bone level will resorb or die-back until there is at least a 2mm gap distance to the crown-abutment margin. It was labelled biologic or biological because it was observed as a “natural”(sic) biological response of the bone tissue to the crown-abutment margin. This response was attributed to the irritation that the margin inflicts on the bone for some reason.

  And this is the reason that we extrude a class 3 fractured tooth so that when we build a post crown, the distance between the crown margin and the bone level can be increased to at least 2mm to prevent further resorption of the bone and subsequent exposure of the crown margin.

  This term was borrowed into implant dentistry to explain why bone always seem to resorb back at least 2mm away from the abutment-fixture margin. The resorption was attributed often to microorganisms finding a snug home in the microgap.

  With the advent of “platform switching” and morse tapering the microgaps became non-existent or too small for the microorganisms to squeeze in any more and thus the dieback stopped! Or is it because the margin was designed away from the bone? In many morse taper designed implants, it was observed that bone grew over the abutment-fixture margins! So the former reason may be correct.

  Recently, after a marathon lecture by Carl M. I am almost convinced that inadequate attention to the biomechanics of the bite may also be part of the cause of the dieback of bone. Still learning, guys.

  Maybe we should try one pieces more often because then we do not have to bother with the abutment-fixture margins and therefore no diebacks but liveons!