I love recreating natural smiles

I had the pleasure of completing treatment for one of our patients yesterday. It was to complete her treatment to replace most of her teeth in her upper arch. She presented to our clinic via with a long standing failing bridge. Her existing bridge was replacing 12 of her upper teeth, almost all of them. Therfore, the prospect of losing this bridge was daunting for the patient. She was worried about having to wear removable dentures for the rest of her life. For this reason, her regular dentist referred her to our clinic to see myself and our team. We provided a thorough assessment before providing the option to repalce all of the 12 teeth using 4 dental implants and an implant supported bridge. This would mean the patient would still have permanently fixed teeth for the rest of her life.

We carefully planned the treatment to provide bone and gum grafting as she had lost a lot of the bone and gum responsible for tooth support over the years. The reason for this is because below her existing bridge there were multiple missing teeth (as is the case with dental bridges). When teeth are missing, the gums and bone often recede. The longer this is left the more bone and gums are affected. In this case, the patient had many of her teeth missing for over 20 years.

The bone and gum grafting we provided restored her ridge so that the 4 dental implants we placed were supported by healthy bone and gums. This is crucial for the long term success of dental implant treatment.

By providing gum and bone grafts we also restored the volume of the patient’s ridge. This means we can recreate the natural gum contours associated with natural healthy teeth. We carefully manipulated the gums to provide papilla and curves in all the right places. This means that when the bridge is finally fitted on we have the perfect fit around the gum line. The most natural fit – both in terms of appearance and also in the way it feels for the patient. I had a big smile on my face when I fitted this yesterday because regardless of how often I have done this, I am always amazed by how beautiful the gums look after they have been shaped this way.

Thank you for reading

Mohsin Patel