Maxillary Bar Overdenture with Bilateral Direct Sinus Lifts

This 54 year old woman had severe periodontal disease, multiple broken down restorations and failing maxillary bridges. Also she did not like the position of her upper teeth as she was in a Class II bite relationship. She had been previously told that even with periodontal surgery her teeth would last at most about 3 yrs. She wanted to have the upper teeth fixed once and for all and a more natural class I type overjet. She didn’t want to go through periodontal surgery and then lose her teeth anyways. We discussed many treatment options. Dr. Arvanitis felt it would be ideal for her to replace her upper teeth with non-removeable, fixed porcelain bridges supported by implants. She chose instead to restore her teeth with a removable bar over-denture supported by 6 implants. Her existing teeth were not salvageable and due to her sinuses being quite low Dr. Arvanitis recommended for her to extract all her upper teeth and let the area heal for 3 months, followed by direct bilateral sinus lifts with the placement of implants at the same time. The final prosthesis was to be made with the anterior teeth in a position to help correct the large Class II overjet.

After: Radiograph of implants, sinus grafts and bars in place at 4 years

After: Radiograph of implants, sinus grafts and bars in place at 4 years