Implants fix TMJ

This patient came with a unique problem – she had severe TMJ, and was in a splint basically permanently! She thankfully was not in pain with the splint, but if she took it out her jaw hurt. Leaving it in however, caused rampant decay on her lower teeth. They ended up almost non-restorable. But the biggest issue with the lower teeth was that they were simply in the wrong spot!

We needed a way to put her teeth into the ‘right spot’ or the same plane of occlusion/bite as her splint created! No problem, we can do that with implants! We took out the lower teeth, and put her into a temporary implant supported hybrid. She got 6 implants on the lower, with phenomenal insertion torque and healed great!

When she came back for her 2 week post-app, she told us that for the first time in her life, she could smile and eat without jaw pain! Our implants and new bite changed her life!

We let her heal for the full 3 months, and designed her final restoration. Due to her age, we opted for a Synrgy Titanium prosthetic, which has individual crowns. This does a few things for us:

  • The first is incredible life like esthetics! The separate zirconia crowns really capture the light well!
  • The second is serviceability. If something is going to break, it will be the individual crown or cement. Easy to fix! We can do that same day in our office with CEREC or order a new one from the lab.
  • The third is that if she has wear on the crowns, especially the back ones over decades, they can be replaced or repaired to fix her bite again.
  • The last benefit is that the restoration so much stronger than just Zirconia. The titanium bonded to zirconia is rigid and strong, but can flex just a bit – where as zirconia will just fracture. Great for a young patient who needs this to last her lifetime!

We decided to celebrate her final restoration by giving her an apple to eat for the first time in years! What a cool experience!

Dental Implants and Hybrids let patients eat almost anything – including apples! First time in years!

Thanks for trusting us with your smile, bite, function, and confidence! For more information about implants, options for restoring your smile, or the differences between fixed and removable implant solutions, follow us on Instagram @FantaskiSmiles and send a DM with any questions. To schedule a consultation, please call (678) 845-8658.