Digital Dentistry Timeout for Full Mouth
By Dr. Thomas K. Hedge

I am going to forgo the usual topic of this column and describe a major experience I just went through. I was a treating doctor on one of my patients from home and a patient the next day in the Full Mouth course at LVI.

I have had fairly severe neck and shoulder pain on my left side for a number of years now. I always thought it was from just being a dentist.

I was a doctor and a patient at the University of Kentucky course taught by Dr. Dickerson and Dr. Rosenthal in 1996. My anterior teeth were worn, but not severely. My central incisors were probably 8 mm., but my Shimbashi was 12 mm. My centrals were lengthened to 11 mm. My vertical wasn’t changed, so my Shimbashi was still 12 mm. I had almost 100% overlap of my beautiful new eight upper anterior teeth.

Over the next five years I attended five levels at the Pankey Institute. I was manipulated, splinted, equilibrated, etc. every time that I went, because you work on each other. Something always told me that C.R. was wrong for me, because it hurt to go there. The splints were not comfortable and didn’t change a thing. I had “hot” ptergoids, but that was it. The joint and other muscles were quiet.

As time wore on, my neck and back pain got worse and I didn’t think about why. After taking Occlusion I, I realized what the problem was. I needed to be opened and my jaw needed to come forward, not up and back. My veneers were trapping my mandible. A diastema was slowly opening between my central incisors. I made a removable orthotic for myself, which helped considerably with the back and neck pain, but compliance was pitiful. I would not wear it during the day, while seeing patients. My dog ate one and another fell off of the seat of a golf cart. My partner and I drove around a bit looking for it, but to no avail.

I was in the process of having my case waxed up for double fixed LVI orthotics when a friend of mine called and told me her patient for the full mouth course just backed out on her. I had known Mary, Dr. Walsh-Cole for three years, as we are both on 3M’s Council for Innovation. It was long enough to entrust my mouth to her care. I volunteered to be her patient. I prepped my patient on Tuesday and she prepped me on Wednesday. I had steak and salad at LVI for lunch as soon as we were finished. I flew home that night on the red eye. My back and neck pain are gone now. I am in 28 provisionals as I write this. I can eat almost anything… nuts, corn on the cob, etc. I have some hot and cold sensitivity from #30. It was previously prepped for a crown and had some decay. Apparently, it was ugly. I have had to avoid one of my favorite foods – Smarties. The sugar leaches under the provisionals, and Zoowie!

My centrals are 11.5 mm and my Shimbashi is 19 mm. I can for the first time see my lower teeth.

As a patient, I would offer a few suggestions. I was a bit zoned out on 10 Mg of Diazepam and took two 5 Mg boosters during the six hours of the procedure. This was a good thing for a Type A+ figiter, as I am. I had beautiful music “Secret Garden”, Songs from A Secret Garden and the Bose Noise Cancellation Headphones. They are $300 and worth every dollar. www.bose.com. I would highly recommend both.

It was a great experience and I would recommend that if you have ugly teeth or NM problems, that you practice what you preach and get your own teeth restored. You can then show patients how you used to look via digital images in a presentation. You didn’t think that I could totally skip digital applications, did you?

I would like to thank Dr. Mary Walsh-Cole from San Diego for her great skill and care.