Mouth rehabilitation is now a quick-fix job

BANGALORE: Just a week before his marriage in January this year, Pankaj Kumar had a fall from his bike. He broke his four upper front teeth and two lower teeth. It was an embarrassing situation for the 31-year-old techie. He rushed to a nearby specialty hospital where the dental surgeon prescribed him full mouth rehabilitation. It just took about 6-8 hours for Pankaj to get the smile back on his face.
Gone are the days when one had to wait for months together and sit through multiple painful sittings to get a removable denture done after the loss of teeth. With advanced technology, you can get teeth implant done within a day and go home smiling.
"Everybody wants to look good today and eat well. Both these things are not possible if you have bad teeth or lose them. Earlier, only old people used to opt for dentures. Today, many youngsters are opting for full mouth rehabilitation due to various reasons, like losing teeth due to smoking, chewing gutka or teeth decay," said Dr Anuradha Navneetham, in charge medical director, Hosmat Dental Centre.
Oral surgeons and implantologists confirm that not only old but people in their late 30s too are coming forward for full mouth rehabilitation or reconstruction.
"We get all sorts of people. IT professionals to housewives have got full mouth rehabilitation done with implants. In many cases, spouses do not even realize that their partners underwent oral rehabilitation and their teeth are not real," says Dr Ajith Royan Benedict, vice-president, Hosmat
Implant material fuses into bone
Materials like titanium, ceramic and zirconia are used as implants which have a tendency to fuse with jawline bones and create artificial root. First phase of treatment gives temporary dentures, which are permanently fixed once the patient gets used to it within 6-8 months. "It takes about 10 days to get used to the implants," said Dr Achut Baliga, senior consultant, oral surgery, implantology and surgical dentistry, Manipal Hospital.
A recent concept for restoration of completely edentulous (toothless) arch is the "All-on-4" treatment plan with four dental implants placed strategically and supporting a fixed partial denture. With this, one receives implants and a full set of non-removable, replacement teeth in a single sitting.
Longer time for kids
Dental procedures for children take a longer time. Dr Deepak S, consultant, oral and maxillofacial surgeon and implantologist, Narayana Hrudayalaya chain of dental clinics, explained the case of a 13-year-old girl who underwent full mouth reconstruction. "Generally, this treatment is given to males after 14 and females over 16 years old. But in this case, the girl had a genetic problem and some of her teeth did not grow at all. It took about 4-6 months to complete the treatment as she was very young," he said.
Like changing tyres
The procedure is fast and is done using 3D image, which gives exact idea of teeth alignment. In the first phase of treatment, temporary or interim dentures are fixed to the implants using screws. It's like changing tyres of your vehicle. Set of dentures can be changed after a few years
Dr Achut Baliga, senior consultant, Manipal Hospital