Orangina's Dentition Part Tres

[PCIntern]

Well this is interesting: the following are two very recent photos





And these are from a short time ago:





I’m actually not certain about what’s going on here, but it may be that he is now wearing provisional or temporary bridgework. There is virtually no question that the earlier photo showed a fixed prosthesis over teeth or implants. The later photos appear to be a slightly different configuration and may be what we called characterized, which is what we perform on temporaries or even permanent restorations to break up the light reflection so it doesn’t look artificial.

He may well be in the middle of significant dental treatment which would explain why they mentioned it on multiple occasions. If his reconstruction failing catastrophically, there is a transitional crisis component which has a degree of uncertainty, despite what the capabilities of the dentist may be.

Now in a patient with dementia, and I have significant experience in this regard, this transition generates fear and anger. I posted a long time ago about my patient who was a Senior Judge in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas, a very respected man, and possessing progressive Fronto-temporal dementia. “Nightmare” does not begin to describe what I went through with him for years until he finally passed away in his late 90’s.

For these individuals, the process is extremely disorienting and upsetting and I would NOT want to be Orangina’s dentist, no matter my politics. God help the staff as well and even the dental laboratory technicians involved must experience real trepidation.

I will continue to keep an eye on this situation and report in. I believe that if he is suffering significant somatic illness, the immune response may be taking its toll upon his dentition.