Full Mouth Rehabilitation in Overland Park, KS
Full mouth rehabilitation, also called full mouth reconstruction, rebuilds most or all of the teeth in both arches when years of wear, grinding, decay, or failed dental work have changed how the bite works. At Overland Park Dental Design, Dr. Patrick B. Lillis, DDS, plans each case around the teeth, jaw joints, muscles, and airway. He designs it digitally and has the final crowns and veneers made by hand at a small ceramics studio in West Hollywood, California.
“You have better things to do than living your life in a dental office. I want to get you out of the cycle of perpetual dentistry.”
- Two-year residency in complex reconstructive dentistry, UMKC School of Dentistry
- Treating worn and failing bites in Overland Park since 2004
- Teaches full arch treatment planning to other dentists as faculty for Seattle Study Club
- You wear and approve the design in temporaries. The final teeth match what you approved
- Ceramics made by hand at a small West Hollywood studio, at Kansas City fees
- General dentists and other practitioners across Kansas City refer their complex cases here
Full mouth rehabilitation vs fixing one tooth at a time
| Compare | Fixing one tooth at a time | Full mouth rehabilitation | Full arch dental implants |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A crown or filling on whichever tooth broke most recently | One plan that rebuilds the bite and the teeth together, using crowns, veneers, implants and bite correction as needed | Removing the remaining teeth and replacing each arch with an implant-supported bridge |
| Who it suits | A single damaged tooth in a mouth where the bite is sound | Teeth worn short across the mouth, crowns and fillings that keep failing, a bite that has never felt right, or a mix of missing, broken and worn teeth | Teeth that cannot be saved, or a mouth where too few sound teeth remain to rebuild on |
| What it fixes | That tooth | The reason teeth keep breaking, plus the teeth | Missing teeth |
| Your own teeth | Kept | Kept wherever possible, implants only where teeth are gone | Removed |
| Where to start | Restorative dentistry and crowns | This page | Dental implants |
Most people who arrive here for full-mouth rehab have already spent years in the first column. A crown chips, the dentist replaces it, another one cracks a year later, and the reason never comes up.
The answer is almost always the bite, and a bite problem does not go away because the tooth on top of it is new.
Signs you may need full mouth rehabilitation
Front teeth that look shorter than they did ten years ago, with flat or chipped edges
Crowns, fillings, or veneers that keep chipping, cracking or coming loose
Jaw soreness, clicking, or headaches that come and go with clenching
Trouble chewing tough food, or chewing on one side only
Old dental work from several dentists over several decades, none of it planned together
Teeth that have worn down from grinding, acid, or years of a bite that never met evenly
A smile that looks older than you feel, because short teeth show less when you talk
If two or three of these describe you, a single crown is unlikely to be the answer. The consultation starts with the whole mouth.
Take the 30-second full mouth rehabilitation quiz
- Do your front teeth look shorter than they did ten years ago, with flat or chipped edges?
- Have crowns, fillings, or veneers kept chipping, cracking, or coming loose?
- Do you get jaw soreness, clicking, or headaches that come and go with clenching?
- Do you have trouble chewing tough food, or find yourself chewing on one side only?
- Is your mouth full of old dental work from several dentists over several decades, none of it planned together?
- Have your teeth worn down from grinding, acid, or years of a bite that never met evenly?
- Does your smile look older than you feel, because short teeth show less when you talk?
If two or three of these describe you, a single crown is unlikely to be the answer. The consultation starts with the whole mouth.
You may not need a full reconstruction, but a consultation can confirm what approach is right for you.
What full mouth rehabilitation involves
A reconstruction combines several treatments into one planned sequence rather than a series of separate repairs. Depending on what your teeth need, this can include:
- dental crowns on worn or broken teeth
- porcelain veneers on the front teeth
- dental implants where teeth are missing
- a bite correction so the new teeth meet evenly
When the bite has collapsed from wear, the plan rebuilds the lost tooth height so the jaw, muscles, and joints work in the right position again.
Some cases need an orthodontist or an oral surgeon as part of the team. Dr. Lillis coordinates those cases and sets the sequence at the planning stage so nothing happens out of order.
Why the bite comes first at Overland Park Dental Design
“Worn dentition, opening vertical dimension. Those are consistently the hardest cases. You have to be meticulous on occlusion, meticulous on records, meticulous on preparation design. You have to be spot on with your diagnosis. There's no margin for error on a worn dentition.”
When teeth wear down over years, the bite closes, and the jaw sits at a different position than it was built for. Restoring those teeth one at a time to the old, collapsed bite means the new work takes the same load that wore down the originals.
Rebuilding the height of the bite determines whether a reconstruction lasts, and it takes training and records to do correctly.
Dr. Lillis took over the Overland Park practice of Bernie Williams, who lectured internationally on TMJ and occlusion. He treated full mouth reconstructions under attending faculty during a two-year residency at UMKC. Every case here starts with photographs, intraoral scans, and a record of how the jaw moves and how the teeth meet.
There is also a health reason to rebuild a bite. Teeth that are worn flat or missing don't break down food well, and a review of systematic reviews in BMC Oral Health found that adults with missing teeth or chewing problems are more likely to be at risk of malnutrition. A reconstruction planned around function changes how you eat, and the smile comes along with it.
“Function is always first. Cosmetics are a byproduct of proper function.”
How a full mouth reconstruction works at Overland Park Dental Design
You see the finished result on a screen, then wear it in your mouth in temporary form, and the final teeth match what you already approved.
Records
Photographs, intraoral scans, and a record of how your jaw moves and how your teeth come together. Dr. Lillis looks at the whole system, the teeth, the joints, the muscles, and the airway, rather than one tooth at a time.
Diagnosis, explained
You hear what is wrong and why, in plain terms. When a case goes badly in any office, the failure almost always traces back to a diagnosis that was wrong at the start, so this step takes the time it needs.
Options with real numbers
Usually two or three treatment paths, each with a cost, so you decide rather than react. Not everyone who asks about a reconstruction needs one, and you will hear that too.
Digital design
Your records go to the design team the practice works with in California, and the design comes back as a file the practice prints as models on its own 3D printers.
Temporaries you live with
The design transfers into your mouth as temporaries. You chew on them, talk with them, and look at them in your own mirror for weeks. If something is wrong, the design changes here rather than in ceramic.
The final teeth
Once you sign off, our ceramist builds the final crowns and veneers to match the temporaries you have already worn. If the plan includes implants, the surgeon places them, and they heal within the same sequence.
Bite check and maintenance
Dr. Lillis checks the bite with the final teeth in place, and every hygiene visit afterward includes an intraoral scan stored against the last one, so wear or changes show up while they're still small.
“The hardest part is on the front end, when you're talking about money and treatment. At the end, they say the same thing over and over: I should have done this years ago.”
How long full mouth rehabilitation takes
Most cases run over several months. The planning phase comes first, then a period in temporaries, then the final restorations. Cases with implants take longer, because the implants need time to heal in the bone.
You receive a timeline for your case at the consultation, and the sequence can be staged so the cost spreads out.
Where our crowns and veneers are made
Dr. Lillis has worked with the same ceramist for over a decade. The studio is in West Hollywood, California, with five or six technicians, no advertising, and a client list the owner chooses himself.
The ceramic is built up by hand in layers, which is slower than pressed or milled work and gives the finished teeth depth instead of a painted-on surface. Because the work ships back to Kansas, our patients pay Kansas City fees.
“They're getting the same ceramics that people in Los Angeles pay a fortune for, and they're getting it in Kansas City for Kansas City prices.”
Reconstruction after dental work that failed
A share of the reconstructions here started somewhere else. Crowns that came loose twice, veneers that chipped, or a set of teeth rebuilt to a bite that was never right. Some of these patients are dentists themselves, and many arrive because their own dentist sent them.
“Every case I fix goes right back to the diagnosis. The diagnosis wasn't correct, and that's a domino effect. If the diagnosis isn't correct, the treatment plan can't be correct.”
A redo starts where the first attempt should have started, with records and a diagnosis, and you approve the new design in temporaries the same way every other case runs here.
Dr. Patrick Lillis: The Overland Park dentist behind the reconstruction
Dr. Patrick B. Lillis completed a two-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at the UMKC School of Dentistry, where he treated full mouth reconstructions and advanced implant cases under attending faculty. He enrolled for one year and stayed for two because the cases he inherited needed the time.
One of those attendings, Frank Gardner, helped develop the bonding techniques that made porcelain veneers predictable. Through him, Dr. Lillis joined Bernie Williams's Overland Park practice, an international lecturer on TMJ and occlusion, and later took it over.
He opened Overland Park Dental Design in July 2004. He has practiced in Johnson County ever since.
Dr. Patrick Lillis serves as a key opinion leader, featured speaker, and clinical educator working with the Seattle Study Club. He lectures regional chapters and mentors fellow dental professionals on advanced interdisciplinary care, full-arch treatment dilemmas, and digital workflow integration.
“There's no substitute for time and experience. I was trained in residency how to do it, I have twenty-plus years of doing it in practice, and I had a mentor that did them. And they're still hard.”
General dentists and other practitioners across Kansas City send patients here when a case falls outside what they want to take on.
What our patients say
5.0 on Google · 32 reviews
Their team is detail oriented. You don't leave their office unless everything is perfect. I had major dental work performed. Since then I've received numerous compliments from family, friends & strangers about my new smile.
I've been to a number of dentists over the years. This past year I had to have some major work done. Since it affected my smile, I really wanted a top-level dentist on the job. I also have extreme anxiety about having impressions made like when you need a crown.
First let me say that all the staff at Overland Park Dental Design. are friendly and helpful. Dr. Lillas is truly a top-tier highly skilled dentist with a support team to match. They also have some type of 3d scanning software that means I didn't have to have traditional impressions which was incredible.
My teeth look perfect and the process was super smooth and painless!
I highly recommend Overland Park Dental Design!
Dr. Lillis and his team are beyond amazing! From my first consultation to the end result I couldn't have asked for a better experience. They take care of you from the moment you walk in the door. Truly impressed with their concierge approach to dental care. Can't thank them enough!
What full mouth rehabilitation costs in Overland Park
Cost depends on how many teeth need rebuilding, whether implants are involved, whether an orthodontist or surgeon is part of the plan, and the materials used. So there is no single figure. After the diagnostic visit, you receive a written plan with costs, usually with more than one option at different price points, and a sequence that can be staged over time.
Full mouth reconstruction near Leawood, Prairie Village and Kansas City
Overland Park Dental Design is in the Foxhill Medical Building at 109th and Roe, just off I-435 at Roe Avenue, on the line between Overland Park and Leawood. Reconstruction patients come from Leawood, Prairie Village, Mission Hills, Olathe, Lenexa and across the Kansas City metro, and a number of them travel further on a referral from their own dentist.
Overland Park Dental Design, Patrick B. Lillis, DDS4601 West 109th Street, Suite 318, Overland Park, KS 66211
(913) 451-7330
Full mouth rehabilitation FAQs
What is full mouth reconstruction?
Full mouth reconstruction rebuilds most or all of the teeth in both arches, usually because years of wear, grinding, decay, or failed dental work have changed how the bite functions. It combines crowns, veneers, implants, and bite correction into one planned sequence rather than a series of separate repairs. Full mouth rehabilitation means the same thing.
Is full mouth reconstruction worth it?
For a bite that keeps breaking dental work, yes, because repairing one tooth at a time costs more over the years and never fixes the reason the teeth fail. The sentence Dr. Lillis hears most often after a reconstruction is finished is "I should have done this years ago." For a single damaged tooth in a sound bite, a reconstruction is the wrong answer, and you will hear that at the consultation.
How painful is full mouth reconstruction?
The work happens under local anesthetic in stages, and most patients describe each visit as similar to a crown appointment. Soreness for a few days after a long visit is normal. The temporaries phase is comfortable enough that patients eat, work and travel in them for weeks.
How long does full mouth reconstruction take?
Most cases run over several months, with a planning phase, a period in temporaries, and then the final restorations. Cases with implants take longer because the implants need to heal in the bone. You receive a timeline for your own case at the consultation.
How much does full mouth reconstruction cost in Overland Park?
Cost depends on how many teeth need treatment, whether implants are involved and the materials used, so there is no single figure. After the diagnostic visit you receive a written plan with costs, usually with more than one option, and a sequence that can be staged.
What is the difference between full mouth reconstruction and a smile makeover?
A smile makeover changes how healthy teeth look, usually with veneers, bonding, and whitening on the teeth that show. Full mouth reconstruction rebuilds teeth that are worn, broken or missing and corrects the bite underneath them. A reconstruction improves the smile as a result, but it starts from function rather than appearance.
Full mouth reconstruction or All-on-4 implants?
A reconstruction keeps your own teeth wherever they can be saved and adds implants only where teeth are gone. Full arch implants remove the remaining teeth and replace each arch with an implant-supported bridge, which suits a mouth where too few sound teeth remain. Dr. Lillis treats both, so the recommendation follows the diagnosis rather than a preferred procedure.
Can worn-down teeth be fixed?
Yes. Teeth worn short from grinding, acid, or an uneven bite can be rebuilt with crowns and veneers once the bite is opened to the right height. Restoring worn teeth without correcting the bite is the reason so much of that work fails, so the plan here starts with records of how your jaw moves.
Who should do a full mouth reconstruction?
A dentist with formal training in complex restorative treatment and a track record of finished cases. Dr. Lillis completed a two-year residency at UMKC focused on reconstructive and implant cases, has rebuilt bites in Overland Park since 2004, and teaches the planning of these cases to other dentists. Ask any dentist you consult how many reconstructions they have completed and whether you will approve the design in temporaries first.
Book a reconstruction consultation in Overland Park
If your dental work keeps failing, or your teeth have worn down to the point that you notice it in photographs, the consultation gets you a diagnosis, a design you can wear, and real numbers. You decide from there.