A Dental House Call

An interesting situation arose this week. I made a house call. Well sort of. A patient, unfortunately needed all her lower teeth removed and was going to have 5-6 implants placed for eventually a fixed , screw-retained permanent bridge. In the interim, we would make a lower removable full denture for a couple months while the implants are healing / osseointegrating. However, the patient had a severe gagging issue and could not wear a full denture.

We put on our thinking caps and came up with a plan that involved a joint team effort. The oral surgeon accommodated my laboratory technician and I at his office. The surgeon removed her lower teeth and found 5 sites where he could place the implants and put a load on them right away. Let’s take a step back , load right away ?? Usually it’s several months before we can put pressure on an implant but sometimes under unique circumstances the patient needs teeth ASAP and we need to load the implant – get the patient teeth !!! Once the surgery was complete and the patient was brought of sedation the lab technician and I went to work. We had done many pre-surgical visits to make records and a template to fabricate teeth for the patient right then and there. She got a screw retained fixed temporary on those 5 implants .. no denture, no gagging !! I saw the patient the next day for an adjustment of her bite and she left feeling pretty good all things considered.

On a personal note, Labor Day weekend is approaching which means summer is fading. My advice is get outside an enjoy the end of summer. And for those of you with children , it is back to school soon so be prepared for the chaos it will bring. My youngest daughter is starting her senior year at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ which means adult responsibilities, full time employment or graduate school is on the horizon … for me it means ONE more tuition payment. Note to self, in my next lifetime buy borderline condemnable homes in a college town and rent them to college students for Park Ave rates and collect checks from parents like me …..