New Hanover County · Since 1987
Full Mouth Rehabilitation in Porters Neck, NC
Full mouth rehabilitation rebuilds a worn, broken down or collapsed bite. It is the largest thing we do and it is sequenced over months, sometimes over a year.
- Three doctors, one location
- Sedation available
- Most major plans accepted
- Written estimates before treatment
full mouth rehabilitation, explained
Patients arrive here after years of piecemeal repair: a crown in 2011, an extraction in 2016, a partial that never fit. At some point treating one tooth at a time stops working, because the bite itself is the problem.
Full detail on full mouth rehabilitation ›
Why Porters Neck patients come to us for this
More than a third of Porters Neck is 65 or older, and almost nobody moves, vacancy here runs around seven percent.
Most of the restorative work we do for this community is second-generation: replacing crowns and bridges placed twenty or thirty years ago that have finally given out. The question is rarely whether to treat it, it is whether to keep patching or rebuild properly.
A lot of the restorative work we do for Porters Neck involves replacing crowns and bridges placed elsewhere in the 1990s.
Porters Neck Plantation and Porters Neck Village together hold much of the community's older population, and both are a straight run down Market Street.
Vacancy here is around seven percent, so patients tend to stay with a practice for decades rather than years.
We see patients from across Porters Neck and the surrounding area, including Porters Neck Plantation, Porters Neck Village, Poplar Grove and the 28411 ZIP code.
New Hanover County is the built-out core of the region, growing around one percent a year, with roughly 21 percent of residents over 65 and the highest concentration of employer dental coverage in southeastern North Carolina.
For treatment at this level we do the planning properly before anything starts: records, a scan, and a written phased plan you take home and think about. Nobody signs anything at the first appointment.
This is the kind of restorative work we do most: patients who kept their teeth a long time and now want a plan that holds for the next twenty years.
You may be a candidate if
- Teeth worn short across the whole arch
- Multiple missing and failing teeth at once
- A bite that has collapsed and changed your facial profile
- Chronic jaw pain alongside extensive wear
- Years of separate repairs that keep failing
What the process looks like
- Comprehensive recordsPhotographs, scans, mounted models and a joint assessment.
- Diagnostic wax-upThe proposed end result is built in wax before any treatment starts.
- Provisional phaseYou wear the new bite in temporary form, often for months, and we adjust it.
- Definitive restorationBuilt to the position proved out in the provisionals.
- MaintenanceA protective guard and a tighter recall interval.
Afterwards
You will wear a protective night guard indefinitely. Hygiene visits move to a three or four month interval. Treated properly, this work lasts decades. Neglected, it does not.
If getting to follow-up visits is difficult, tell us. We can often combine checks into fewer, longer appointments.
What it costs
Full mouth rehabilitation is a substantial investment and we treat it that way. You get a written, phased plan with costs per phase, so it can be staged over time rather than committed to at once. We go through financing in detail at the planning appointment.
If you are on Medicare, note that it does not cover routine dental treatment. Many supplement plans include a limited dental benefit with an annual cap, and we will check yours before quoting anything.
In their own words
Hear from Dr. Carter Lee
Dr. Lee on fixing only what needs fixing, and what it is like to hand a patient the mirror after a smile transformation.
Questions we get asked
Can it be done in stages?
Yes, and we usually recommend it. The plan is written in phases with costs attached to each one.
Will I be without teeth at any point?
No. You are in provisional restorations throughout.
How far is your office from Porters Neck?
About 13 miles, or roughly 22 minutes via Market Street (US-17) or I-140 to MLK Jr. Parkway. We are at 1301 Physicians Dr in Wilmington, with parking at the door.
Do you see patients from Porters Neck?
Regularly. Porters Neck is part of our core service area in New Hanover County, and this is the kind of restorative work we do most: patients who kept their teeth a long time and now want a plan that holds for the next twenty years.
What are your hours?
Monday through Thursday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, and Friday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. Outside those hours, leave a message or use the appointment request form and we will come back to you with the first available time.
Full Mouth Rehabilitation · Porters Neck, NC
You have probably been told several different things about this.
Bring the opinions you have already been given. We will look at your scan with you and say which parts we agree with.
- Three doctors, 50+ years of combined experience
- Implant surgery and restoration in one building
- Sedation available for longer appointments
- Written, phased treatment plans with costs attached
Worried it is too much work at your age? Health matters far more than the number, and we will tell you if we think a smaller plan serves you better.
Request an appointment
We reply the next business day.
Please do not include Protected Health Information. For anything urgent, call (910) 762-0958.
