After a lifetime of hard work, it’s likely that your teeth have also been put through the mill.

From annual dental work that focused on specific issues to the unavoidable reality of years’ worth of grinding your teeth, mouths often get to a point where there are both functional and aesthetic reasons to look at a wholesale makeover.

A full mouth reconstruction is certainly not an insignificant investment – but the proven results offer more than just a cosmetic return, there’s also the functional benefits to self-confidence and health. And, besides, after the best part of a lifetime earning respect through your business or your career, isn’t it time you deserved the type of quality investment that a full mouth reconstruction can deliver?

The type of issues that usually bring people to Dental Artistry looking for a full mouth reconstruction are centred around this general wear-and-tear. Our website case studies, for example, detail clients with worn, chipped, discoloured teeth – all the sort of issues that create an unaesthetic smile and can lead to a gradual change to the shape of the face.

In other studies and research around the world, frequent complaints include patients not feeling they can smile and laugh freely, or show their teeth “without feeling shame at how ugly they are”. Other reasons that clients seek treatment include:

  • Mismatched dental work.
  • The desire to change their profile by lengthening the face and improving a weak chin.
  • The need for extensive dental work on cavities and decay.
  • Crooked teeth and overbites exacerbated by ageing.

As the name suggests, the work involved in a full mouth reconstruction can be both complex and time-consuming, but it’s also important to understand that it is designed for the specific requirements of individual patients. Although there is much time put into the planning and preparation, depending on what you are having done, sometimes the final transformation can happen in just one day.

The initial work undertaken involves digital smile design, in which the patient can see the potential outcome of any work and decide between treatment options based on an expert appraisal of existing issues, facial structure and ideal aspirations.

From this point work will be carried out on:

  • Your bite: Ensuring a stable bite removes pain when you close your mouth or chew and prevents ongoing wear to your teeth. This is usually the first step and may involve temporary restorations, orthodontic or corrective treatment before any final restorative work gets under way.
  • Your gum tissues: Any new teeth implants will require a good base in which to sit and this can include periodontal treatment to create a solid foundation of bone and gum tissue using either soft tissue or bone grafts.
  • Your teeth: Depending on the condition of individual teeth, you may require any combination of extractions, porcelain veneers, bridges and crowns, root canal therapy, implants and a sinus lift (to provide an “anchor” for an implant towards the back of the upper jaw).
  • Aesthetic considerations: How your profile looks and the size, shape and colour of your teeth in proportion to your face are a major factor in the overall success of a full mouth reconstruction.

The benefits of having a new smile are far greater than simply being able to face yourself in the mirror or not feeling self-conscious in public because of the improvement to your general facial shape and profile, and being able to be proud of your teeth.

While most research into full mouth reconstructions have centred around the practicalities of materials and procedures, studies have shown that implants and oral health play a major role in boosting a patient’s overall quality of life via “the mitigation of physical pain and psychological discomfort, and the improvement of physical disability (e.g. difficulty eating)”. In other words, you’ll look better physically and feel better emotionally.

As well as the boost to your appearance there’s also the benefit to your general oral health because your new teeth will be much easier to brush and keep clean.

The overall cost of a full mouth reconstruction is not to be taken lightly – but the return on that investment is easy to calculate in five steps:

1. Leaving a bad bite, decay or damage not only risks existing teeth but can also harm restorative work. A full mouth reconstruction will halt ongoing damage to teeth, giving you a long-lasting smile and a fully functional mouth well into your old age.

2. The ongoing cost of piecemeal restorative dental work can be severely reduced to simple, regular checkups. Plus, damage repaired at different times by different dentists can all add up to un-matched materials and an overall disjointed look.

3. The good oral health that comes alongside a full mouth reconstruction also brings with it proven overall health benefits. Joint disorders in the jaw can lead to head and neck pain and an unhealthy mouth has been linked to health issues ranging from infections to stress and anxiety.

4. The decision to take wholesale action for your mouth’s overall look and health can give you savings in both time and money, compared to the lower-quality results and ongoing work required by fixing each problem as it arises.

5. It’s hard to put a true cost on the value of a bright, healthy smile. Removing that self-consciousness that comes from knowing your front teeth create a poor first impression can boost both your personal and professional relationships.