A new smile for Andrea
The patient
The clinician
*What is fibromyalgia?
Andrea presented to our office with a gleaming personality, a wonderful spirit and great motivation to achieve a new smile. At first, she showed some reservations about what could be possible in her esthetic outcomes. However, with the collaborative efforts of Eric Kukucka and Dr Mark Shuren, we showed her what is possible. Not only did her smile change in the process, mine changed as well. This type of case reminds me of why I started in my profession.

The patient’s expectations on the treatment
- Few interventions with only view appointments
- No temporary toothlessness
- An appropriate, esthetically and functionally pleasing result
Planned treatment procedure
- Extraction of teeth that could not be saved, followed by immediate insertion of the temporary interim denture with Digital Denture
- Therapeutical phase with Digital Denture
- Implant-supported restoration
*What is Digital Denture?
Production of the interim denture with Digital Denture
On the surgery day, the interim dentures produced with the Digital Denture process were ready and waiting. Andrea’s remaining teeth were extracted under full anaesthetic. In addition, slight alveoloplasty* was conducted to provide optimal esthetic results. The surgery was successful. When she woke up from the anaesthetic, Andrea was fitted with her interim dentures. She was released in the care of her mother. One week later she presented to the practice for a recall appointment. At that time, it seemed like she had been transformed into a new person. Not only her appearance, but also her demeanour had changed remarkably. She radiated vitality and self-confidence.
The patient attained not only a beautiful smile, but also – more importantly in this case – a measurably improved quality of life. Due to the Digital Denture process, the patient experienced very little discomfort. The number of dental appointments was reduced to a minimum, while the results were maximized.
*What is alveoloplasty?
Alveoloplasty is a surgical procedure of shaping the alveolar ridges to reconstruct the jawbone.
Digital Denture is an automated digital manufacturing process for the efficient production of removable dentures. This innovative process offered the young patient a way out of her difficult and distressful situation. It allowed us to create removable dentures using CAD/CAM methods without having to change any of the usual clinical dental processes. At the time of the surgical intervention, the dentures were ready for insertion.
The result



There are times in the course of your career when you really feel that you have markedly improved a patient’s appearance and outlook on life. As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, this is usually achieved with the correction of skeletal deformities via complex orthognathic reconstructive surgery. To obtain such results with nothing further than full mouth extraction of the terminal dentition followed by denture delivery, is nothing short of extraordinary. When Eric Kukucka approached me about working with him on this case, I was intrigued because he said that he was trying out a new process. Although the surgery was routine, the prosthesis was anything but routine. It has truly been an honour to be involved in this feel-good case.
The digital denture process at a glance

The comparison




In the next phase, we will provide Andrea with dental implants. She has great confidence in our team and is well-prepared to face the upcoming challenges.
We are all here to support Andrea on her journey to regaining her quality of life: Her new dentures are only the beginning.