Full Mouth Reconstruction

Understanding just how much damage and/or decay has occurred allows your dentist to gain perspective on what restorative procedures you need. Those can include such things as veneers, bridges, crowns and implants. The examination will also determine if there has been any damage of decay affecting the pulp inside your teeth; if there is a need for root canals, or other inner-tooth work, an endodontist will be added to the team.

If your mouth has been largely overcome by tooth decay and infection, resulting in severe inflammation, your dentist will bring a periodontist on board. The most basic periodontal treatment that might be called for is scaling and root planning—a procedure in which the dental professional reaches well below the gum line to clear plaque and tartar that has reached the roots of your teeth. The process also includes a thorough cleanout of the socket in which the tooth sits and smoothing out of the root surface; the smoothing helps the gums to heal tightly around the tooth, while also making sure there are no small fissures in the root where bacteria might settle. More involved periodontal work can include reinforcement of the gums and jaw through surgery, adding bone or grafting gum tissue..

Beyond the ability of your jaw to support teeth, your dentist will want to assess the function of your temporomandibular joints (the ones that help your jaw go up and down), your jaw muscles and your occlusion (the way in which your upper and lower teeth come together when your jaw closes). All of those factors figure into making sure you can open and close your mouth comfortable and chew without pain. Among the specialists who may be brought in to fix any issues are an oral surgeon who might perform a procedure to reposition the jaw, and/or an orthodontist, who can suggest the best way in which to straighten teeth that don’t need to be replaced, but that have been knocked out of position.

As your mouth is reconstructed, your dental team will need to understand such things as the coloration of your teeth, their ideal shape and size, and how they should look in proportion to your face. 

When teeth don’t line up properly, when they interfere with one another as the jaw opens and closes, orthodontics is usually the answer (the dreaded braces that cause a lot of angst at yearbook-photo time). 

Unfortunately, there are cases when just straightening out the teeth isn’t enough. That’s when a type of oral surgery—orthognathic surgery—is performed. During an orthognathic procedure, the jaw is literally moved into a new position and secured in that position.

It’s not always about your teeth, by the way. Repositioning the jaw can also be done to correct other issues, such as:

•  Pain due to TMJ (temperomandibular joint) disorder
• Problems with speech or the ability to swallow
• Clearing an obstructed airway in cases of sleep apnea