Cases that present with a fully edentulous arch and are accompanied with a loss of both bone and gum volume due to bone resorption over many years can benefit from a ceramic denture that is screwed on a relatively small number of implants. This treatment has a high probability to give off an esthetically pleasing and impressive look.
Hava. L runs an office in the High-Tech industry, is well dressed and has high self-awareness. She came into our clinic with an old acrylic denture ( pictures 1 and 2) that was being held by a few frontal teeth( picture 3). The denture restricted Hava from eating freely and was really the complete apposite of the way she wanted to look- “ a bombshell”. The supporting teeth were fractured and decayed, this was causing pain and gum inflammation. The metallic part of the denture as well as the fact that it wasn’t fit at all, was causing constant irritation to her soft tissues, leading to wound formation (picture 3- white lesions). In the case before you the patient requested “a fixed ceramic prosthesis, with minimal surgical intervention, like a sinus lift”. During surgery (picture 4) the teeth were extracted and 6 implants were placed with the help of a guiding plane. The guiding plane was digitally fabricated with the help of our dental laboratory and was based off a 3D reconstructed image of a CT scan. Thanks to this procedure we were able to take advantage of the remaining bone quantity and shape. After healing (picture 5), Connectors were installed on top of the implants (picture 6) which later to them we are able to fixate our prosthetic work piece. We installed a temporary acrylic denture (picture 7) which was screwed in place. This step is critical in order to design the final restoration. After we achieved a desired look, the final denture was prepared from a mixture of both white and pink ceramics and had been screwed through the posterior openings in the mouth (picture 10). The steady occlusion (picture 11) has helped Hava to enjoy her meals and smile without any hesitations anymore (pictures 12-15). The fact that the denture could be disconnected in a few minutes (don’t try this yourselves…) allows the dental hygienist to effectively clean all areas around the implants. Just as a bonus, your temporary acrylic denture will always stay with you in the case of emergency!