Three teeth were fractured in a sport accident

Background

Mr H came to the Surbiton Smile Centre ® initially with the problem of a loose bridge. He avoided smiling as his teeth had been damaged in a rugby game several years previously causing his front teeth to be shunted forward. He had also lost a tooth on the upper right side, which had been replaced by a cantilever bridge supported by his top-right canine.

Unfortunately, this canine was fractured, and the entire bridge fell out. Upon examination it was found that his upper-left incisor was also infected and needed to be extracted. Mr H had developed the habit of clenching his teeth, which had over the years, worn down the surfaces of all his teeth.

Before with brace in place

Before with brace in place

Treatment

Taking time to talk with Mr H, he revealed that he did not like the appearance of his teeth. He said that he tried to stop himself smiling and always made sure that he kept his lips closed when he talked. Mr H asked if there was any way to improve the look of his teeth. He was aware that he had not smiled for a long time. Mr H was assured that it was possible to restore his teeth and give him, once again, a healthy, natural smile.

A cost-effective Treatment Plan was devised that took into consideration his wishes and budget. It was to be a multi-disciplinary procedure, which would require a long-term commitment from Mr H, but would in the end fully reconstruct his mouth.

X-ray showing position of implants

Typically, the first stage of such a long procedure is to improve general oral hygiene, starting with our dental hygienist training Mr H in preventative care. Then, the upper-right canine and upper-left incisor were extracted, and the decayed and damaged teeth restored.

The second stage involved orthodontist treatment to straighten the teeth and align them in the upper and lower jaw. As ever good oral hygiene was

maintained during this period by visits to our hygienist every three months. Mr H wanted to keep his healthy teeth intact and only replace the missing teeth. Building another bridge would have required shaping the teeth adjacent to the gap, so according to the wishes of Mr H, implants were positioned for his missing teeth.

In the fourth and final stage, three crowns were placed on the implants and the back teeth were reconstructed. Due to his clenching and grinding, and a large filling, his teeth had worn unevenly and given him an unbalanced bite. It was crucial to stabilise his bite in order to reduce the risk of overload on his teeth and on the new implants. Any excessive loading can cause implants to fail or existing teeth to break.

Mr H was provided with a personalised mouth guard to wear at night, which would relax his jaw muscles and help him to reduce the amount of grinding and clenching.

All of his back teeth were restored with metal-free ceramic crowns.

End Result

With his treatment now finally over, he has regular appointments with our hygienist four times a year and comes twice a year for a routine dental check-up. It is a great feeling for our team at the Surbiton Smile Centre ® to see our patient smiling once again with confidence, meeting our eyes and facing the world with pride.

After