What Is Full Mouth Reconstruction?

At our Spring, TX dental office, we offer full mouth reconstruction, a comprehensive approach that combines multiple restorative dentistry procedures to restore your teeth to their full function and health. This process goes beyond simply addressing damage to individual teeth; it also focuses on rebuilding your bite, ensuring you can chew comfortably and prevent further damage to your teeth. Our goal is to provide a long-term solution that improves both the appearance and function of your smile.

Your Full Mouth Reconstruction Consultation

The full mouth reconstruction (full mouth rehabilitation) process begins when you schedule a consultation with a Houston cosmetic dentist at Stephens & Gatewood Dentistry.

We’ll start by listening to your experience and build a dental treatment plan. We want to learn not only the cause of your tooth problems, but also how you feel about the experience. A successful full mouth reconstruction doesn’t just repair your teeth and your bite, it helps you feel comfortable and confident in your smile.

We’ll ask you questions to discover additional details you might not have mentioned. We might ask you about your overall health history. There are certain health conditions that might contribute to oral health problems, and we’ll want to understand these risks before we start.

Then we’ll perform a comprehensive checkup on your teeth. This will likely include x-rays, pictures, and visual scans. It might also include a cone beam CT scan, which is like a series of x-rays that construct a 3-D image of your teeth and bones. Unlike medical CT scans, the CBCT involves low radiation and you don’t have to enter a claustrophobic tube–it’s fully open.

Once we complete the evaluation of your smile, we’ll talk about your dental treatment options for repairing the damage and rebuilding your bite. We’ll utilize our advanced tools to help you understand the procedures we will use. We’ll show you a digital mock-up of your new smile, and we might also build physical models, too. Whenever possible, we will create multiple treatment plans and give you the information you need to make an informed decision between your treatment options.

TMJ and Full Mouth Reconstruction

One common cause of widespread damage to your teeth is a bite dysfunction such as temporomandibular joint disorders (called either TMJ or TMD). These bite problems often involve clenching and grinding your teeth (bruxism), which can cause your teeth to wear down, break, decay, and become infected.

Even if you didn’t have TMJ before your tooth damage, you might have it now. The type of tooth trauma that requires full mouth reconstruction can also lead to TMJ. In addition, the loss of occlusion–the contact and near-contact between the teeth that helps regulate your bite–can lead to bite dysfunction.

For all these reasons, it’s important that any dentist you choose for full mouth reconstruction should understand TMJ treatment and how to create a healthy, balanced bite.

Otherwise, you might experience TMJ symptoms such as:

  • Jaw pain
  • Facial muscle pain
  • Difficulty chewing
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Dizziness and vertigo
  • Neck pain
  • Limited jaw movement
  • Popping, clicking, or grinding in the jaw
  • Tooth damage and wear
  • Jaw pain
  • Facial muscle pain
  • Difficulty chewing
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Dizziness and vertigo
  • Neck pain
  • Limited jaw movement
  • Popping, clicking, or grinding in the jaw
  • Tooth damage and wear

As you can see, the consequences of full mouth reconstruction without paying attention to your bite can be serious, including an undoing of all the reconstructive work.

Procedures To Replace Missing Teeth

To repair the damage to your teeth and bite, we might utilize a combination of procedures, including:

The combination of procedures we use in your full mouth reconstruction will depend on the damage to your teeth. Those listed above are the most common, but in some cases, we might utilize others. For example, sometimes we might use porcelain veneers to repair damage to front teeth. However, often bite problems require restorations that provide more strength and support for your teeth. Dentures can sometimes be a temporary tooth replacement in full mouth reconstruction, but they don’t fully restore bite function, so we don’t like to rely on them long-term.

Get Full Mouth Reconstruction in Houston

Have you experienced significant damage to many of your teeth and wondering if you are a candidate for a full mouth restoration? It might seem bad, but modern restorative dentistry likely gives us options to help you achieve a beautiful smile, good oral health, and a bite that is both comfortable and functional. The Houston dentists at Stephens & Gatewood Dentistry have nearly 100 years of combined experience, and together they can tackle even the most complex reconstruction cases. Just see what our previous patients have to say about us in their reviews and testimonials. Plus, you can check out our prior results in the before and after gallery.

Please call (281) 320-2000 or use our online form to request an appointment at one of our offices, serving the Houston area from Spring, TX.