This patient was 62 years old when he first presented to my office in 1991. He was missing several teeth and had significant periodontal disease. He was wearing removable partial dentures and was not happy with that type of prosthesis. He had had several consultations and was thoroughly familiar with dental implants. We discussed several options including both fixed and removable restorations. This patient was set on having a fixed restoration.

I completed my diagnostic work and worked up a treatment plan to keep some of the molar teeth and replace the remaining teeth with implant supported restorations. I felt that the molars were maintainable over a long period of time if implants were used to replace the missing support and I felt that keeping the molars would be very helpful in completing the work. When there are some remaining teeth, they can act as a guide for placement of the dental implants and they also provide valuable proprioception for the final restorations.

The patient ultimately decided to go ahead with his dental treatment in my practice. Treatment was completed in about a years time and I have been following him ever since with no adverse situations.