Q. Dear Sir, I’ve been “selected” for a procedure that I am not familiar with and want to find out more information…I have been waiting for approval though a county dental facility to have the rods or implants for witch the denture can be attached to…My oral surgeon called and said that while I wait for the OK for those rods/ implants..He would like to perform something..I am not sure of the exact label for the surgery..it involves Lowering the floor of my mouth..? and building up mandibular area..they want to take a skin graft from my buttocks and use it as a graft for my mouth..They want to do this because my lower jaw was without a denture for 8 years..not that I didn’t have one but got poor dentistry at the time and it did not fit and cut me badly..result..stopped using lower denture to my detriment. Does any of this sound familiar to you..I am 56 years old and in fairly good health in spite of wheel chair status…part of the reason I am in a wheel chair and lost my teeth was because eight years ago I was misdiagnosed as having end stage breast cancer to the bone…I didn’t though but was placed in a Morphine induced comatose state for a year..till they figured out their mistake and withdrew the medications…however I lost most of my teeth..then when I woke up I had to have the rest of them removed…I need some direction here..I am scared to go under anesthesia for 2 hours! In addition I need to know the possible side effects for such a procedure. He said it would be that long…scares me when you consider all of the medical mistakes I have endured in one life time…maybe I am over thinking this..but I need to do research..But don’t no where to turn..he did say this procedure was a common one before implants…what is he talking about..I will have further instruction next week when I go in but want to be educated enough when I go to ask the right questions..Can you please direct me to some educational material..I would appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

A. Hello 

This procedure effectively increases the height of the mandible by lowering the level of the tissues around it making the denture more stable and les likely to rub on the floor of the mouth, something that can still happen even if implants are used to anchor the denture. Its quite a complex procedure and not commonly used in dentistry these days. Talk things through with your oral surgeon agian the next time you see him i’m sure he will be able to give you a bit more information especially if he uses the technique a lot.

Dr Andrew Moore
Advance Dental Clinic
Clinical Director
www.advancedentalclinic.com
Tel: 01245 268 494
104 Moulsham Street
Chelmsford Essex
CM2 0JG