Guided Surgery: Lower Teeth In A Day

Here's another example of a patient's teeth in a day experience in our office.  A patient who has upper natural teeth and no lower teeth is a classic dental cripple, because the lower jaw has limited ability to support and retain a denture, and the bone shrinks quickly when the upper natural tooth chewing forces are applied.

Special Equipment

He had a CAT Scan of his lower jaw, and a computer program was used to design implant locations and a clear guide to be used in his mouth.  After the guide was held securely, the implants were placed without making an incision.

The computer also designed a lower fixed bridge that was made in advance in our in-house laboratory.  When the implants were in position, the fixed bridge was screwed down.  The patient went from a lower denture to a lower fixed bridge in a single appointment.

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc.,
 Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics
(661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com
5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Teeth in a Day Surgical Guide

With the use of a 3D Scan of the patient's jawbone, a computer program can be applied to plan the placement of the dental implants.  From that design, an accurate-fitting surgical guide is fabricated, which allows the precise placement of the dental implants.

In the pictures above, the guide has been fabricated, and when secured in the mouth, provides tubes through which the implants are placed.  The 3D Scan also makes it possible to create the teeth in advance to fit the newly placed implants, so the implant supported fixed bridge can be placed at the same time.  This is an example of one of the many "Teeth in a Day" procedures that we have performed.

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Upper Teeth In A Day

Dr. Tupac has performed "Teeth In A Day" procedures over the last seven years.  In the beginning, with the 3i Implant system DIEM protocol, and presently with the NobelBiocare guide system.

NobelGuide is a treatment procedure which allows a patient to be treated from no teeth to a fixed bridge of teeth in one appointment.  Starting from wearing an upper full denture, this patient had a CT Scan of his upper jaw. By applying NobelGuide Procera software to the scan, the anatomy of his upper jawbone was visualized in three dimensions, allowing virtual placement of dental implants with a computer program. In addition to planning implant placement, the computer program facilitated creation of a clear surgical guide, to be used for "flapless" implant placement. The temporary fixed bridge was fabricated in advance of the surgery also, so the bridge was placed at the same time as the implants.  This technique is predictable because the planning has revealed the anatomy under the soft tissue.  The resulting bridge enables immediate function with a beautiful esthetic result, the patient having gone from a removable complete denture to an implant supported fixed bridge in one appointment.

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Lower Teeth In A Day

Using a surgical guide fabricated from a virtual computer surgery done on a CAT Scan, five dental implants were placed in this lower jaw and the lower denture converted to a temporary screw-retained fixed bridge at the same appointment.  This technique is called "Teeth In A Day," and is one of many dental implant options Dr. Tupac provides his patients.

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309