Patient history
The patient came to our clinic for a full-mouth dental restoration. She had only 6 teeth remaining in the upper jaw, and after removing the crowns it became clear that these teeth required extraction. The posterior teeth had been missing for a long time. According to the patient, she had previously undergone surgeries on both maxillary sinuses. Her words were confirmed by the X-rays, which showed defects on the outer walls of the sinuses. This made it impossible to perform standard bone grafting procedures in the posterior regions and conventional implantation. In such cases, we can use the All-on-6 technique, in which implants are placed in the arch of the maxillary sinuses at specific angles.
In the classical All-on-6 approach, we usually use a prosthesis with artificial gum tissue. However, in this patient’s case, the situation was complicated by the presence of a so-called “gummy smile” — when she smiles, part of her gum is exposed. Therefore, a traditional prosthesis would have looked unaesthetic.
Treatment
In her case, we applied a modified All-on-6 technique, placing six angled implants in the upper jaw and fabricating a temporary prosthesis that closely resembled her natural teeth. We shaped individual emergence profiles in the area of each tooth to achieve the best possible aesthetic outcome. This completed the first stage of treatment.
Result
After six months, the patient returned for the second stage of treatment. During this stage, we fabricated a highly aesthetic implant-supported prosthesis for the upper jaw, zirconia implant-supported prostheses for the lower jaw, and also corrected the shape and color of the remaining lower teeth with ceramic veneers.
Treatment was carried out
