The Moment I Felt I Had Made the Right Choice in Prosthodontics

Today, instead of talking about a treatment,

I would like to share something personal.

This happened several years ago.

At the time, I was in the middle of my residency training.

One day, sitting in the treatment chair was none other than my own father.

"Many of my teeth are cracked."

For a long time, my father had taken good care of his teeth

and used them carefully.

But as he got older,

his molars gradually began to wear down,

and the composite resin on his front teeth, which had been filled years earlier,

also began to break.

When I examined him closely, it was not just one or two teeth.

His teeth were significantly worn throughout his mouth,

and his bite height itself had also decreased.

Upper teeth	Lower teeth	Front view

This is what it looked like when we examined it closely.

The chewing surfaces were broadly worn down,

and the edges of his front teeth were chipped.

There were also gaps between his teeth.

You can see it in the photographs.

This is why simply "fixing one tooth"

would not solve the problem.

Cases like this are not simple.

Filling or crowning only the one broken tooth

would not resolve the issue.

That is why treatment was needed to restore the balance

of the entire mouth.

We call this "full-mouth reconstruction."

Treating my father's teeth myself

To be honest, I felt a great deal of pressure.

If he had been another patient,

I would have calmly considered several options,

but because these were my father's teeth,

I had no choice but to be even more careful.

We started by considering how much of his bite height

we should restore and how to do so.

We placed provisional teeth

and evaluated them over several months.

We checked everything one by one—from his chewing sensation and pronunciation

to the contours of his face.

He went through the provisional-teeth stage twice.

I remember repeatedly asking him,

"Does this feel comfortable enough?"

"Do they feel unnatural?"

It took nearly five months.

Only then were we able to complete the final prostheses.

Watching him smile again

I still remember the expression on my father's face

as he looked in the mirror after treatment was completed.

He said that he could chew much more comfortably

than before.

More than anything, he was happy that

his teeth looked beautiful when he smiled again.

Upper teeth	Lower teeth	Front view

We completed the treatment by matching

each chewing surface,

as well as the color and shape of the teeth,

as closely as possible to natural teeth.

If you compare them with the pre-treatment photographs shown earlier,

you will clearly notice the difference.

Looking back, this case was

the moment I felt I had made the right choice

in choosing prosthodontics.

Rather than simply fixing one tooth,

it means restoring the balance of the entire mouth

so that a person can eat comfortably

and smile with confidence.

That is also why I chose this path.

If you have similar concerns,

or if your teeth have become worn over time

and keep breaking in different places,

rather than patching them one at a time as problems arise,

consider having your entire mouth examined.

More often than you might expect, the cause is not limited to one area

but lies in the overall balance.

※ This post was written and published directly by the representative director of 연세그리다치과의원

in compliance with Article 56, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Service Act

for the purpose of providing medical information.

※ This post was written based on materials photographed

with the consent of the actual person who received the treatment,

featuring the same individual under the same conditions,

and was published in accordance with Article 56 of the Medical Service Act

and Article 23 of its Enforcement Regulations.

※ Treatment period: 2023.04 - 2023.09

※ These treatment results apply only to this patient,

and the treatment and care methods,

results, effects, and side effects may vary depending on the individual patient.

※ Prosthodontic treatment may cause side effects such as pain,

a foreign-body sensation, or gum discomfort.

Therefore, sufficient consultation with a qualified medical professional

is recommended before treatment.