Completed All-on-Four Dental Implant Case

Good morning everyone. I promised a report this week on the case I mentioned last week. That was the patient requiring full mouth reconstruction with the All-on-Four technique because of rampant and uncontrollable tooth decay as a result of head and neck radiation therapy for oral cancer.  We’ll call this gentleman Mr. A as he is the first of our case reports.  As you may recall, I decided to do the upper only and proceed with the lowers later after appropriate hyperbaric therapy.  Mr. A arrived at 8AM Monday morning to begin his sedation.  At 9AM, the surgery had begun. Under conscious sedation, 8 upper teeth were extracted and 4 dental implants were placed. The surgery was completed at 11:15 AM and we began making a new set of teeth. Mr. A rested comfortably and at 4PM we let him see his new smile. Mr. A loved it and reported the following day that he was pain free and working in his garden. I expect a continued uneventful recovery. Regarding the need for hyperbaric oxygen treatment before I proceed with the lower, there is an interesting side note. This has often been a major inconvenience for my patients because of the expense – often in excess of $10,000.00. Mr. A found that Medicare will cover the cost. That’s a welcome development.  As this case moves to completion, I’ll keep you up to date. Mr. A’s next visit will be in about two weeks. We’ll check on healing and give him oral hygiene instruction. I’ll let you know how he is. Visit www.nodentures.com to learn more about the All-on-4 procedure.

Dr. Wayne Brueggen