The oral rehabilitationAlthough it sounds more like something a traumatologist or physiotherapist would do, it is in fact a dental treatment or, well, to be perfectly accurate, a set of them that we have called it.
When is oral rehabilitation necessary?
Oral rehabilitation is considered for patients whose chewing function has been impaired or lost. This means that they either have no teeth to chew with, or they are so worn or crooked that the jaw is strained to grind these foods.
This can occur for a number of reasons, the most common being:
- The loss of all or most of the teeth due to decay or periodontal disease.
- Loss of a few teeth, which has caused the rest of the teeth to move, tilt or wear, resulting in grinding and interference with chewing.
- Wear and tear of parts due to erosion problems or bruxism
What treatments are included in oral rehabilitation?
Oral rehabilitation is not limited to specific and concrete treatments that are always similar, because it depends on the patient's needs, as we have already seen. Some can - or could - be relatively simple, for example, a patient who has lost all his teeth can have two complete prostheses in a few sessions. However, this treatment is very uncomfortable for most patients and when it comes down to it, we offer them more suitable solutions.
That is why the vast majority of rehabilitations are multidisciplinary treatments involving the intervention of several specialists.
Orthodontics plays a very important role in these cases when the patient still has some of their teeth. When teeth are lost and we do not replace them, the neighbouring teeth and those of the opposite arch move to fill the gap. This is why it is sometimes necessary to move them to bring them to an optimal situation before moving on to the next stages.
Once all the teeth are in place, implant surgery is usually necessary to replace the missing teeth. Not always as many implants as missing teeth are needed, as you can see below. read here. For example 2 implants are strong enough to replace three missing teeth on one side of the mouth or with only 6 implants placed strategically an entire arch can be replaced, as in this before and after picture that we have published this week:
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The next phase is carried out by the restorative dentist or prosthodontist. This is the most attractive phase of the treatment because it is the one that changes the aesthetics of our mouth and smile. This is achieved by means of caps or crowns that can be placed on teeth or implants or by the use of veneers. For example, I recently made this very cool case that we uploaded to networks:
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In other cases, we make a hybrid prosthesis. This consists of a complete set of teeth in one piece, which is screwed onto implants. As it is fixed, it is a much more favourable option for the patient than a traditional denture.
So, as I always try to tell patients, there is always (or almost always, of course) a solution for their case.