Rod, Marina Del Rey

Gum Disease and Bone Grafts

Poor Dental Health

Rod wasn’t born with bad teeth, but reached a point of dental despair after many years of neglect and "patchy" dentistry. Rod’s case is not uncommon; many patients have let their smiles become unhealthy and unappealing because the deterioration process occurs gradually and they get used to it over a period of years. The teeth slowly shift into worse positions and the bite gets worse and worse. Usually decades go by before they decide to take action. Cosmetic Dentistry is not enough in these cases because overall health is compromised.

High Tech Dentistry and Gum Disease

The first course of treatment for Rod was to extract the hopeless teeth and graft his jawbone with Bio Oss (an osteoconductive bone substitute). Bone grafting preserves the size of the jawbone after an extraction. Without bone grafting, the jawbone shrinks down too much as the socket collapses. Temporary fixed dental bridges were placed the same day of the tooth extractions so the patient never went without teeth. Rod pointed out that his "temporary dental bridges looked better than his natural teeth!"

Bite Reconstruction

After the patient healed from the extractions, he decided to go through with the complete bite reconstruction combined with the Dental Face Lift®. Full mouth and bite reconstruction completely restored his facial balance and TMJ comfort. His speech has improved as he can pronounce his words more clearly due to the alignment of his teeth and jaws. Rod did not need dental implants since all of the missing teeth were replaced with fixed porcelain dental bridges. Rod’s porcelain bridges look great and he feels safe in knowing that some of Dr. Muslin's patients have had their porcelain dental bridges last over 25 years without a problem.

Dental Bridges vs Dental Implants

Fixed porcelain dental bridges stay in place and replace missing teeth, much like dental implants. A dental bridge, however, allows for a more natural appearance at the gum line since gums can shrink away from dental implants and leave a hole in between the teeth. Dental bridges were the best choice for Rod because they are completed quicker than implants and the final esthetic results are superior.