Full mouth rehabilitation is a more general description than many terms used in dentistry. If you need a filling, you know precisely what type of treatment you'll receive. If you need a full mouth rehabilitation, you could be receiving several different forms of treatment to repair or replace multiple teeth. This treatment is likely to require the replacement of numerous missing (or severely damaged) teeth.

A Dental Prosthesis

Patients who are missing multiple teeth will require a prosthesis (artificial replacement) of some sort. Instead of simply using partial dentures to fill in the gaps, full mouth rehabilitation is intended to restore the functionality of teeth as much as possible while also feeling natural. As such, the process may prioritize permanent dental implants over removable prosthetic teeth, utilizing a fixed prosthesis instead of a removable one. The implant is a small titanium rod placed into your jaw. Once the bone heals, a permanent dental crown (prosthetic tooth) is attached to the rod, looking and feeling like a natural tooth. 

Your Long-Term Needs

Dental implants require minor surgery, meaning that while it's possible to replace multiple individual teeth with individual implants, it's not the most practical or comfortable option. Your long-term needs are better served with an implant-supported dental bridge (or bridges). This is a chain of prosthetic teeth. 

Implant-Supported Dental Bridges

An implant-supported dental bridge may be recommended for a patient with multiple consecutive missing teeth. For example, you may be missing four teeth in a row. All four prosthetic teeth (made of ceramic) will be joined together, with an implant at either end of the chain. Instead of requiring four dental implants, the entire bridge only needs two. The implants support the weight of the prosthetic teeth suspended between them. 

Traditional Dental Bridges

An implant-supported prosthesis uses the same principle as traditional dental bridges, in which natural teeth are used to physically support a bridge of prosthetic teeth. Depending on the location and stability of remaining natural teeth, these may be reinforced (with dental crowns) and then have a bridge of prosthetic teeth suspended between them. Full mouth rehabilitation can entail dental bridges supported by natural teeth, as well as dental bridges supported by dental implants. 

While full mouth rehabilitation must be customizable and adaptable, it's likely that anyone requiring this treatment will have missing teeth (and potentially have multiple missing teeth). When it comes to a natural-looking (and feeling) replacement for these multiple teeth, implant-supported dentures may well become part of your treatment plan.

Contact a dentist to learn more about full mouth rehabilitation.