Full Mouth Reconstruction in Beverly Hills, CA
Medically reviewed by Dr. Kayla Lebeau, DDS
Rebuilding a whole mouth, one plan at a time
Full mouth reconstruction means restoring most or all of your teeth in both jaws as a single, planned course of treatment. Rather than fixing one tooth, then another, then another for years.
It is not a cosmetic decision. People come to us for this when teeth are breaking, worn down, or failing faster than they can be patched, and when the bite itself has stopped working properly.
This is usually the conversation when
- Several teeth are cracked, worn flat, or already missing
- Old crowns, fillings or bridges keep failing and being redone
- You avoid chewing on one side, or avoid certain foods entirely
- Your jaw aches, clicks, or your teeth no longer meet the way they used to
- Years of grinding or acid reflux have shortened your teeth
- You have been told you need ‘a lot of work’ and nobody has put it in order
- Usually takes6 to 18 months
- VisitsMultiple, planned in phases
- NumbingLocal anesthetic, sedation available
- Done in one buildingSurgeon and dentists on site
What it actually involves
Reconstruction is not one procedure. It is a sequence, and the order matters. Gum health and bite come before anything that has to last.
- Records and diagnosisPhotographs, X-rays, a 3D scan where needed, and a record of how your teeth currently meet. Nothing is treated until the whole picture exists.
- A plan you can seeWe map out what is being kept, what is being replaced, and in what order, with the cost of each phase written down before anything starts.
- Stabilize firstGum disease, infection and decay are dealt with before restorative work. Building on an unhealthy foundation is how reconstructions fail.
- Test the new biteYou wear temporary restorations for a period so the new bite can be lived with, eaten on, and adjusted before anything permanent is made.
- The final restorationsCrowns, bridges, implants or veneers are made to the shape that has already been proven to work in your mouth.
- Keeping itA night guard where grinding was part of the problem, and a maintenance schedule so this is the last time it needs doing.
Reconstruction or a smile makeover?
People use the terms interchangeably. They are different jobs.
A smile makeover is elective. The teeth are healthy and working; you want them to look better. It is usually front teeth, usually veneers or whitening, and it is usually quick.
A full mouth reconstruction is driven by function. Teeth are failing, the bite has collapsed, or there is damage across both jaws. Appearance improves, often dramatically, but that is a consequence of rebuilding the mouth properly, not the reason for doing it.
If you are not sure which one you are asking about, that is exactly what the first consultation is for.
Why it is planned as one thing
Full mouth reconstruction is not a procedure. It is a sequence, often implants, crowns, gum treatment and bite correction. Planned together because each part constrains the others.
The reason to plan it whole is the bite. Where teeth have been lost or worn over years, the jaw has usually closed down and the muscles have adapted to it. Rebuilding one quadrant at a time to fit the current bite locks in a position that may be wrong, and undoing that is expensive.
So the order runs: stabilize health first, establish the correct jaw position, test it with temporaries you wear and eat with for weeks, then build the permanent work to that proven position.
The temporary phase is the part people want to skip and the part that protects them. It is where a bite gets adjusted while adjustment is still cheap.
What might be part of it
No two reconstructions contain the same list. Yours might include some of these, and will not include all of them:
- Crowns and bridges to rebuild broken or heavily filled teeth
- Dental implants where teeth are missing and a gap needs a root, not just a cover
- Root canal treatment to save a tooth worth keeping
- Gum disease treatment, and bone grafting where support has been lost
- Extraction of teeth that cannot be saved. Done by an oral surgeon in this building
- A night guard if grinding caused the wear in the first place
Most practices refer the surgical parts out. Here the oral and maxillofacial surgeon, the cosmetic dentists and the general team all work in the same practice, so the plan is made once and carried out by people who can walk down the corridor and talk to each other.
Time, cost and honest expectations
Expect months, commonly six to eighteen. Biology sets that pace: implant integration and gum healing cannot be scheduled away.
You get a written, itemized plan with a sequence and a cost per stage before anything begins. Most people phase the work, and phasing is normal. What matters is the order: foundation and health first, then the parts that can wait.
Insurance usually contributes to the restorative components, crowns, extractions, gum treatment, and little to the cosmetic ones. We check your plan and give you the expected out-of-pocket figure in writing. Financing is available.
What we will not do is start something we cannot finish well, or rebuild teeth on a foundation of untreated gum disease. If the plan needs to be smaller than you hoped, you will hear that at the consultation, not halfway through.
What it costs, and how people pay for it
Full mouth reconstruction is a significant investment, and the honest answer is that the range is wide. It depends entirely on how many teeth are involved, whether implants or grafting are needed, and how much can be saved rather than replaced.
What we will not do is quote you a number before we have looked in your mouth. What we will do is give you a written plan, broken into phases, with the cost of each phase, before any treatment begins. You will know what you are committing to and when.
On insurance: reconstruction usually contains work insurers treat as necessary. Extractions, root canals, gum treatment, some crowns, alongside work they treat as elective. We will help you understand which parts of your plan fall where, and financing is available if you would rather spread it.
Will I be without teeth at any point?
No. You wear temporary restorations throughout, so you leave every appointment with teeth you can eat and smile with.
Does it hurt?
The treatment itself is done under local anesthetic, so you should not feel it. Sedation is available if dental work makes you anxious. See sedation dentistry. Some tenderness for a few days after surgical stages is normal.
How long will the results last?
Well-made restorations, looked after, last many years. What shortens them is untreated grinding, gum disease, or skipping maintenance, which is why those are dealt with as part of the plan rather than afterwards.
Can I do it in stages?
Yes, and most people do. The plan is built in phases for exactly that reason. What matters is that the sequence is followed, because each stage depends on the one before it.
Do I have to decide at the consultation?
No. You leave with the plan and the costs in writing, and you take as long as you need.
Start with a conversation, not a commitment
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