Welcome, I'm Dr. Perry from Farmington Family Dental. Today I'm here to answer some of the most common questions I hear about full mouth reconstruction, redoing an entire mouth and making it look nice again.
What is full mouth reconstruction?
Full mouth reconstruction is really just talking about the extent of the work done. Typically, when you go into the dentist, you hear about a crown here, a filling or two there, and it's fairly limited as far as what needs to be done. A full mouth reconstruction is kind of like in a house, taking all the drywall off down to the studs, redoing the drywall, maybe we're redoing a roof and some siding too. It's redoing a whole bunch of the mouth at a time, and typically, we keep the foundation material. Sometimes we redo, but typically we're keeping what we have and just restoring the facing surface or the veneered surface over the top of it. That can be done with dental veneers, or it could be done with dental crowns or a combination of those to get you to where your smile looks nice again. It looks nice and even, we've taken care of any spacing issues that are there, and you just have a beautiful smile again, regardless of where you started in the process.
Who would be a candidate for full mouth reconstruction?
Great, so candidates for full mouth reconstructions are people who aren't very happy with their mouth at their core. They're either having difficulty chewing, they're seeing things breaking down over time, and their dentist has said something like, "Well, let's just watch on that, we'll see how that goes, you'll end up in a set of dentures eventually." Those are the types of people that typically there are other options where we can fix it up, but maybe your dentist hasn't talked about them with you.
What would disqualify someone from being a candidate for full mouth reconstruction?
So, who is not qualified for doing a full mouth reconstruction? Anybody who I don't think can take care of or maintain the work once it's done. That does not make sense to fix it up if there's some sort of systemic health issue that's going to cause you to lose your teeth either way, or the foundation in and around your teeth isn't healthy and stable, like you have active periodontal disease that we're not going to be able to get under control. Those are things that I would say, "Hey, we shouldn't be doing this, we really should be taking teeth out or exploring another option or getting it under control first."
What are the different treatment options for full mouth reconstruction?
The treatment options for full mouth reconstruction really, they're pretty vast about what can be done and how it can be done. In general though, it's putting crowns or veneers on things and changing the look or the shape or the structure of the tooth that you see when you smile, or changing the structure of what you use to chew with so it's more stable and has better longevity or better lifespan.
Is a general dentist qualified to perform a full mouth reconstruction?
General dentists are qualified to do full mouth reconstructions. I think the limiting factor seems to be have they gotten the training that they need to be confident and competent in delivering the result you're looking for.
What is the process for going through a full mouth reconstruction?
Oh, everything on doing a full mouth reconstruction depends on that first step, that's the consult appointment. It really deserves some time spent with the dentist, probably 30 minutes or even an hour, talking about what the issues are and what the solutions that are available for that, and finding a plan that's to your liking to deliver the aesthetic result and the functional result that you're looking for at a price that works for you.
How long does a full mouth reconstruction take?
Full mouth reconstructions vary in how long they take. So, it could be anything from a day on up to a couple of months or even in some cases a year or two, depending on what all is involved with restoring what once was. A full mouth reconstruction at its core is fixing everything, fixing the foundation so your teeth last longer and look better, and that can be quite involved for some people, or for others, it's fairly simple or straightforward.
What anesthesia options will be available during the full mouth reconstruction process?
Full mouth reconstructions can be done comfortably either with local anesthetic like you're used to, where we just get the areas we're working on numb, on up to being fully asleep. Some people, you probably know who you are, are anxious about dentistry, some to a point where it's been keeping you from being able to have the work that you need in your mouth. For people who are in those boats, well, there are sedation options where we can put you all the way to sleep, like general anesthesia or things like if you're having an appendectomy or a surgery to remove your appendix, where you're not even awake for it, you're not aware of what's going on, you have the work done, you wake up and it's done. That can work for a lot of people. If you're pretty nervous about things, just talk to me about it, I'd be happy to help you with that.
How long does it take to heal from a full mouth reconstruction?
Oh, healing from a full mouth reconstruction is typically fairly quick. Typically, these types of procedures are done just on the tooth itself and are done in a way where we're doing veneers or crowns or some combination of that. When we start involving implants or dentures, that takes a little bit longer to do from start to finish, and the healing period can be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months, depending on how things go. But in all cases, even with implants, even though the implants take about 6 months to heal in most cases, that healing period isn't a sore period, it's just waiting for the bone to grow in and around the implant, and the healing phase is really only the first two weeks or so as the tissue is closing over and healing over top of where we put an implant in.
Are there special care instructions following a full mouth reconstruction?
There can be special care instructions when we're doing a full mouth reconstruction. That depends individually on what you needed to have done and how we approach it. As a dentist, I will talk to you about those special care instructions sometimes right up front so you're aware of them, or at the day of the procedure I'll tell you about what happened or is about to happen and what care you're going to need to do in taking care of it.
Will a full mouth reconstruction last for the rest of my life?
Full mouth reconstruction lifespan. Sometimes people ask, "Well, is it going to last forever?" I would never say anything lasts forever out of a matter of principle because I don't think that it does. Even the original work has issues, and I don't think in a lot of cases the original work was the best that's ever been done. I happen to have some faith in that regard, by the way. All that said, the lifespan of full mouth reconstruction should be a pretty good long lifespan. I'm expecting anywhere from 15 to 20 years on average out of each individual tooth we work on. If I'm expecting less than that, I will let you know at the time of diagnosis or when we start treating it. If it goes differently from what I thought, I will talk with you about it. In general, when somebody's considering a full mouth reconstruction, I have yet to see somebody who's had that procedure done need to then go to where we're extracting and removing teeth and replacing them en masse. Sometimes we'll lose one or two along the way, but that's not the end of the world as far as things go. I'm expecting as a whole the work will last a good long time and probably until you don't need it anymore.
Will dental insurance cover the cost of full mouth reconstruction?
Dental insurance is pretty savvy about how they approach large treatment plans like a full mouth reconstruction or implants or things like that in dentistry. What I mean by that is, accountants know their business; they know what money comes in versus what money goes out, and it's fairly simple for insurance to say as a category, "We won't pay for this." When you come in and we start talking about doing something and we solidify the plan that's right for you, I will tell you about the insurance, what it will do specifically in your case. Sometimes I see them participating in a meaningful manner, other times I don't. It really depends on the insurance that you have and the extent, and what we're doing to deliver the treatment that you need, like are we're using implants or crowns or veneers, or how are we're doing it. In general, what I would expect from insurance is that you're hitting your year maximum, usually those sit anywhere from 1,500 to about 2,000, and they'll contribute towards the case, but it's not certainly not going to cover all of it.
Are financing options available to help me pay for a full mouth reconstruction?
So, people ask, "How am I going to pay for this? How is this even achievable for an average person to have everything fixed back up?" The most common way that I see people do this is they'll get some type of financing, whether it's our in-house financing we offer or doing something like a mortgage or putting a lien on the car or the house or something like that. All of those are options that I've seen people use successfully. And what it comes down to on this is how much is it. The average full mouth reconstruction is sitting anywhere from about 10,000 on up to about 30 or 40, depending on how we accomplish it. At those numbers, you can obviously see that's like a new car. And sometimes people ask, "Well, how do I pay for that?" Well, it's usually the same answer as what you would do if you needed to buy a new car; finance it is typically the option people go with.
How can I schedule an appointment to talk about full mouth reconstruction options?
Right, so you can schedule an appointment to come and talk with me by simply giving us a call. Our phone number is (573) 637-4404, and that's here at Farmington Family Dental. If you give us a call and tell the secretary that's what you want to do, you want to look at fixing your teeth, she'll get you scheduled with a consult. Those consults for an implant or for a full mouth reconstruction are done at no cost. We will take X-rays and basic records to see do we qualify here and start that consultation at that point. There's no commitment, by the way. I really just want you to see what the options are and see what fits right for you.
Okay, so it's been fun talking with you today about full mouth reconstruction. You might have some more questions, specifically about what you need in your mouth. If you give us a call at (573) 637-4404, you can call us at Farmington Family Dental and we'll get you scheduled in for a consult. That consultation is no cost. We'll do the records we need to do to get you the answer of what treatment we would recommend, why we'd recommend it, and what long-term result is doable for you. We'd love to see you anytime. Give us a call.