Full Mouth Reconstruction Park Ridge

Full mouth reconstruction is a comprehensive treatment plan for restoring the function and appearance of your entire mouth. Whether your teeth are damaged because of tooth decay, gum disease, wear, trauma, or some other cause, full mouth reconstruction can give you back a beautiful smile and a functional bite. In addition, Dr. Mark Kuchta can use neuromuscular dentistry to perform full mouth reconstruction to alleviate TMJ disorder symptoms.

If you are looking to repair your smile, let Complete Health Dentistry of Park Ridge help. We’ll evaluate your oral health and recommend the perfect combination of restorative dentistry procedures to achieve your goals for a healthy, functional, attractive smile.

Full mouth reconstruction is, generally, a combination of procedures intended to repair damage and restore the appearance and function of your mouth all in one combination of procedures. It’s a custom procedure that Dr. Kuchta develops individually for each patient who requests it.

In neuromuscular dentistry terms, full mouth reconstruction means something a little different. Not only will Dr. Kuchta repair damaged and worn teeth to restore the health and beauty of your smile, but he will build your teeth up to restore your bite to a healthy position for the relief of TMJ symptoms. This is sometimes described as Phase 2 treatment of TMJ disorders.

A full mouth reconstruction is a custom procedure that Dr. Kuchta designs using a wide range of restoration techniques. The most common procedures used in full mouth reconstruction include:

Dental crowns are powerful treatments when restoring a badly damaged smile. After removing damaged and weakened tooth material, Dr. Kuchta will fit crowns over damaged teeth. The crown restores the strength of the treated tooth and protects it from further damage due to wear or decay. Since the crown gives the tooth an entirely new surface, it also delivers cosmetic benefits as well. The strength of dental crowns makes them ideal for building up teeth to restore a healthy bite.

Dental bridges are one option Dr. Kuchta can use to replace missing teeth. Supported by natural teeth, this replacement option doesn’t require surgery, though bridges can be supported by dental implants.

Dental implants are artificial tooth roots, usually made of titanium, that can anchor replacement teeth. Dental implants are capable of handling high bite force when properly placed, making them suitable for neuromuscular reconstruction.

When your mouth is badly damaged, you might also need orthodontics. Missing teeth can cause the remaining teeth to drift, or extend too far out of the jaw. We might need to create space for restorations or straighten your teeth to provide a healthy bite.

Standard full mouth reconstruction starts with a consultation and examination where Dr. Kuchta will look at the current condition of your teeth. He’ll listen to your goals for the health, function, and appearance of your teeth. Then he’ll design a treatment plan to give you back your healthy and functional smile. This plan will include a comprehensive estimate so you’ll know the cost of your full mouth reconstruction before you start.

After you agree with the treatment plan, Dr. Kuchta will start providing the treatment. In general, the order of treatments is most likely to be:

Orthodontics takes the longest, and is more often necessary to prepare for other treatments, such as creating space for dental implants. Dental implants can take the second longest. Plus, any implants need to be completed before we are ready to place restorations. Finally, Dr. Kuchta will help the dental lab design your restorations. Placing multiple restorations at once makes it easy to provide an attractive result by matching the materials, color, and dimensions to create a uniformly attractive smile.

Neuromuscular full mouth reconstruction starts with a consultation, too, but this time it’s about your TMJ disorder symptoms. Dr. Kuchta will collect a detailed medical history, perform an examination, and determine whether you have TMJ disorder. If you do, he will recommend a treatment, typically a bite splint. This bite splint will hold your jaw in a healthy position to relieve your TMJ symptoms such as jaw pain, headaches, tooth wear, and more.

If you aren’t getting good relief, Dr. Kuchta will adjust the bite splint until you start to enjoy improving results. Then you’ll wear the splint until your symptoms are all but eliminated. Next, you will try to reduce the amount of time we have to wear your bite splint. For many people, it’s possible to reduce splint wear to just at night or even just a few nights a week, similar to an orthodontic retainer.

However, if you aren’t able to reduce your bite splint wear, if you have significant tooth damage, or if you just want to get a new smile, you can choose to get Phase 2 TMJ treatment. In this procedure, we will alter your teeth to support your jaw in a healthy position without a bite splint. We’ll also repair any damaged teeth, whether these are related to your TMJ disorder or not.

When the procedure is complete, you’ll have an attractive, functional smile and a bite that doesn’t cause TMJ symptoms.