Placing 17 implants in an edentulous patient… to bilateral jaw surgery
How a University Hospital Abandoned a Full Mouth Implant
On July 3, Dr. Minseok Oh, head of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Daejeon Sun Hospital, visited Mini Shi Dental Hospital to give a special lecture. Dr. Oh is one of the leading surgical experts in the field of dental implants, and he introduced a case of ‘full-mouth implant’ surgery that combines digital technology and surgical know-how.
Dr. Oh described a case in which an edentulous patient who had been using only dentures for 30 years was fitted with 17 dental implants and double jaw surgery to create “teeth that can actually chew”. The process of transforming a surgery that was abandoned by university hospitals into a success through precise digital analysis, 3D navigation guidance, and material combination technology drew attention.
“The right combination and design is the key to success, not just one good material,” Dr. Oh said. “The completeness of the surgery depends more on how it is combined and planned than on what materials are used.”
He cited a case in which he was able to design a guide and make a temporary prosthesis in less than five days, allowing for immediate surgery. “Even with digital equipment, it’s the human hand that completes the surgery,” Dr. Oh said, adding that “a 100-point surgery becomes a 150-point surgery with navigation.” In this way, digital technology can dramatically improve the precision and success rate of surgery, he said.
“Full-mouth dental implant treatment is more than just restoring teeth, it fundamentally changes the quality of life for patients,” he says, adding that “people who have eaten with implants never wear dentures again,” and that patients will travel across the country to find a doctor who can place implants, even if it means bone grafting.
