All journeys start with the first step

[blackhound]

I'm so sorry to hear about your new crown. I hope that you've found a dentist that can help you get it all sorted out.

I do want to say that your journey has been an inspiration to me. I start my dental journey on Tuesday. You've provided me with the motivation and courage I need to move forward. And I want to thank you for that.

Wow! So glad I could help with some virtual inspiration! I'm very glad that you are taking the plunge on Tuesday. You've done a really tough thing already by making the appointment and committing to the process. I found that what helped me was to not think of the whole treatment plan because it would become overwhelming. I tried to just focus on one appointment at a time. One filling, one crown, one cleaning. As you check them off and see the forward progress it becomes less frightening.

And yes, I'm going to sort this crown business out. I have a periodontal appointment for a cleaning on Tuesday! and I will solicit his advice. I also have a new dentist that has been recommended to me that I hope can help.

I will think of you on Tuesday as we both sit. in. the. chair.

Please let us know how you get on with your appointment.



BH

 

[blackhound]

Pondering what steps I have to take to get resolution on the poorly placed dental crown.

1. Tomorrow I see my periodontist for a hygiene appointment and will ask his opinion. My guess is he will say the fit is unacceptable and not conducive to good periodontal health.

2. Book an appointment with my new dentist to evaluate what can be done to fix and/or replace the crown.

3. Call the insurance company and complain. After insurance I paid $625 for the crown. I'm not paying to have it redone and I don't want it redone by the dentist who fouled it up and then refused to accept responsibility for it. I know I'm in for a fight but I am so outraged by what I see as completely unethical behavior that I'm gonna fight this out to the finish.

 

[Ellieclarke1989]

Its good to hear there are some good dentists out there

 

[shamed shane]

Wow! So glad I could help with some virtual inspiration! I'm very glad that you are taking the plunge on Tuesday. You've done a really tough thing already by making the appointment and committing to the process. I found that what helped me was to not think of the whole treatment plan because it would become overwhelming. I tried to just focus on one appointment at a time. One filling, one crown, one cleaning. As you check them off and see the forward progress it becomes less frightening.

And yes, I'm going to sort this crown business out. I have a periodontal appointment for a cleaning on Tuesday! and I will solicit his advice. I also have a new dentist that has been recommended to me that I hope can help.

I will think of you on Tuesday as we both sit. in. the. chair.

Please let us know how you get on with your appointment.



BH

Good luck in the chair tomorrow! I'll be thinking of you during my visit. Oy.

 

[blackhound]

Periodontal visit went well. Gums are good! Had a cleaning and a full set of digital x-rays.

The perio looked at my new crown and said it was not well made. There is an open margin on the back of the tooth that should not be there. He also said the point of the tooth is too long. It doesn't affect my bite but just more confirmation that I've been had.

When the permanent was seated before cementing the whole process should have stopped. Never should have been cemented because IT DOES NOT FIT THE TOOTH. *swears colorfully*



I do have the x-rays which do show the poor fit. I don't have a statement from the perio on the record. I understand he doesn't want drama but, dude, help me out here ....

Next stop is to the new dentist for his evaluation.

Plan -- challenge the insurance company on this claim on the basis that the crown was poorly made and doesn't fit supported by the new x-rays. They shouldn't pay this guy for this mess. If I can convince them of that then I can apply the benefit to the new crown. At least that's how it plays out in my head. Reality will probably be crashing disappointment.

Also part of the plan is to challenge the original dentist's charges via peer review because I really don't want to pay for his mistake, and NO, I'm not giving him yet another chance to make this right. That time has passed and I wouldn't trust him anyway.

 

[shamed shane]

Yay on the gums!! Good luck pushing forward with the crown fix.

 

[Mike09112]

Sorry if you posted before, but how much was your LANAP procedure?

 

[blackhound]

Sorry if you posted before, but how much was your LANAP procedure?

Hi Mike,

It was in the vicinity of $6,000. That included the procedure (all four quadrants), bite adjustments (which are critical to the outcome), follow-up visits and cleanings (every three months) for one year after the procedure.

BH

 

[blackhound]

Last week I had my periodontal hygiene appointment and the hygienist told me that it was the 5 year anniversary of my LANAP procedure.

I can't say enough good things about LANAP. My gums are pink and tight against my teeth. I had enormous reductions in the pocket depths and I didn't loose a tooth. My teeth are tight, intact, no loss of gum height and my gums are in good health.

Of course I floss and brush every day like religion. Really not a hard habit to get into. And I get my teeth cleaned every 3 months instead of every 6 months.

So happy I took the LANAP leap of faith.

 

[blackhound]

I hate dentistry.

Why is it so hard to find a general dentist that doesn't turn a simple procedure into a multi-visit problem. It's difficult enough to muster up the courage to go for an appointment. It's tragic to have to do it again and again because basic dentistry can't be done right.

My current dentist came with glowing recs from friends and colleagues. A booming practice. A very personable guy with a nice office staff. I have very good dental hygiene. But on this last visit he found some surface decay on #2. Okay. I know putting stuff off only makes things worse. So I immediately book an appointment to have it done. This should have been simple.

But now I have a tooth that doesn't fit my mouth and I can't bite down without pain. For some reason beyond me he decided that instead of maintaining the tight contact of the original tooth he was going to sculpt part of the tooth away so that there wouldn't be a place for food to get trapped. So the tooth actually looks like a piece is missing. I immediately knew something wasn't right so he agreed that he would redo the tooth with the original tight contact. I'm hoping that the reason I can't bite down is because the tooth is misshapen. With dental anxiety there is always the lurking fear (reasonable or not) that the tooth was damaged and a crown/root canal is in my future. FOR A BASIC FILLING. And now I have zero confidence in this dentist. The relationship is damaged.

It just always seems like I can't win with the exception of my brilliant periodontist. Who gets it right every time.

There are real reasons why people hate dentistry and don't go when they should. All I want is to find a general dentist who can not make matters worse.

 

[blackhound]

Another appointment today to deal with the corrections to #2. I still have pain when I bite down so I'm hoping it is just a high spot and/or the weird design of the tooth. Plus I have a small bit of decay on the back of #10. Hopefully no drama on that one.

I just can't understand why this stuff can't be right the first time through. I have never ending issues with dentists that cannot get my bite correct when it comes to the molars. I always end up having to go my periodontist who corrects the problem in 5 minutes. He's doing the same thing -- using the carbon paper -- so it must be more than that to getting the bite to work as it should. At this point I just want to chew.

There are reasons why people shun dentistry.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Blackhound,

Hope your appt goes well and they are able to help you draw a close to this . Your perio sounds wonderful. Sorry you are going through this, it is frustrating. REally wishing the best. let us know how it goes!

 

[blackhound]

My fear of dentistry has morphed over the past 6 years. At first it was a fear of the process -- the needles, the drill, the smells, the noise. Now its become a fear of the result.

I have had 3 dentists in the past 6 years. Each one has created problems for me with my bite. Pain, jaw discomfort, eating discomfort, multiple visits that never get it right. So I cringe with fear when I need work done on my molars because I know it is inevitable that it will be wrong. And I'll be in pain for days or weeks until I can get to my perio and have him fix it.

I would love to ask a dentist why this is so damn hard to get right. And why it is so damn easy for the perio to get right. I really would.

 

[blackhound]

Blackhound,

Hope your appt goes well and they are able to help you draw a close to this . Your perio sounds wonderful. Sorry you are going through this, it is frustrating. REally wishing the best. let us know how it goes!

Thank you for the support. The tooth was reshaped and the biting pressure is gone on that tooth, but my occlusion is screwed up, my jaw is throbbing and I know the only way to fix it is to get to my perio as soon as I can.

In my perfect fantasy world I would have my perio pull out all my molars and replace them with implants because then it would be right once and for all and I'd never have to deal with dentistry on those teeth again.

And yes, my perio is wonderful! And not just because he saved my teeth and brought my gums back to good health. He is a wizard when it comes to occlusal problems.

 

[JC2019]

Blackhound,

Thank you for all of this. It means the world for someone like me who may need LANAP but can find no testimonials online, let alone something as detailed as this. Thank you!

 

[blackhound]

You are very welcome. If you have any questions, please ask. I found the same thing -- lots of reviews of outcomes but nothing that detailed the process. As much as I hate and fear general dentistry I have nothing but praise for my periodontist.

Blackhound,

Thank you for all of this. It means the world for someone like me who may need LANAP but can find no testimonials online, let alone something as detailed as this. Thank you!

 

[blackhound]

Since December 2018:

A small bit of surface decay started this cascading failure.

What I thought was going to be a 'one and done' visit? Nope. First visit when decay was addressed resulted in my occlusion being off. Second visit to address the occlusion resulted in same. Occlusion still not working. Actually ended up being worse.

That meant I needed to see my periodontist to clean up the occlusal mess. Which also means having to wait while I put aside the $$ because US dental insurance is pretty iffy as to what they will pay for when it comes to periodontal work and occlusion adjustments are something they don't want to pay for at all.

So while I'm trying to stash as much money as fast as possible? My crown on #4 comes loose. Which means a trip back to the dentist to have that dealt with which also means any $$ I've saved for the perio is going right back to the dentist to deal with the loose crown.

And my occlusion is still crap and now I have to start all over again saving up the money. It's now the middle of March and I haven't been able to chew properly on the right side of my mouth since December.

THERE IS A REASON PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO GO TO THE DENTIST.

Time. Money. Aggravation. Bad outcomes. And did I mention Money? This stuff will give you PTSD.

 

[blackhound]

On dental crowns. My 2 cents. Feel free to ask for change.

I have a crown on tooth #4 that is a CEREC milled crown. Put in place 8 years ago. Nearly fell off this week. From what I have read they also require more tooth structure to be removed for placement. That could be a lie because I read it on the internet.

Sitting right next to it on #3 is a lab created crown of porcelain over metal. Cemented in place 35 years ago. Yep. Put on in 1985. Hasn't budged an inch. Hasn't caused one issue to date.

So.

I really don't care that the CEREC crowns can be done in one day in one appointment. If I have to go back twice for a lab crown and the damn thing holds on for 35 years? I've already wasted more time with this failed CEREC crown than I did with the original placement of any lab crown in my mouth.

I'm thinking I want a lab crown from here on in.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Blackhound,

This is very interesting , thank you, I always wondered about Cerec myself, sounds like frustration at best. Do you have to go and get it replaced ? did they cement back on, that is one of my major fears, crowns randomly coming off. Amazing that other crown held on and is good for so long , now that is quite encouraging! I'd probably want to stick with lab too, even if I have to do the impressions which are not a favorite thing though now I have a few good impressions on impressions as of late

 

[blackhound]

The crown was not completely off. He wiggled it all the way off and then was able to cement it back in. Although 'cement' is probably not correct. The Cerec crowns are bonded to the tooth in a different way from traditional crowns.

This all feeds into my frustration with dentistry and the way procedures are presented to a patient. The dentist who placed the CEREC clearly had bought into the technology and had a financial investment. I was never given the option of a lab crown and frankly I didn't know that there was a real difference. I feel taken advantage of because I didn't know the differences and I wasn't given that information by the dentist who had a real financial incentive to make a CEREC crown.

I'm not as concerned about the CEREC on #4 as I am about the CEREC on #30. I think that was a bad choice by the dentist, again with financial incentive, to put a crown on a tooth that does all that heavy grinding and chewing when the opposing tooth (#3) has a traditional porcelain/metal substructure crown. I really fear that the CEREC will fail. I've been told that the CEREC material is super strong and blah-blah-blah, but again, if I had been given info to make an informed choice I would have said no, I want a traditional lab built crown.

And I think this commoditization of dentistry also includes implants and the pushing of implants where, again, there should be an informed choice. I had this experience with the CEREC dentist. (And yes, I'm long gone from this guy's practice.)

I broke a cusp off a tooth and it was broken clean right above the gum line. He pushed and pushed for an implant. The tooth wasn't fractured, there was no pain or pressure pain, the break was clean. My other option was a root canal, post and core, and crown. That was my choice. But the pressure to place an implant for what was a pretty standard dental situation was uncalled for. I'm sure he would have made way more money from an implant whether it was medically necessary or not.

On impressions: I might be one of the few who really doesn't mind impressions. It's awkward but it's not a freak out for me, although I completely understand how other folks can be triggered by it.

Blackhound,

This is very interesting , thank you, I always wondered about Cerec myself, sounds like frustration at best. Do you have to go and get it replaced ? did they cement back on, that is one of my major fears, crowns randomly coming off. Amazing that other crown held on and is good for so long , now that is quite encouraging! I'd probably want to stick with lab too, even if I have to do the impressions which are not a favorite thing though now I have a few good impressions on impressions as of late