Dr. Hall,
Would you know of a dentist that is willing try and repair a split tooth? I would like a dentist to try to save the tooth first before extracting it but I’ve been to 4 dentists and all of them want to extract the tooth. Are you still praticing dentistry? I would fly to another city to get the procedure performed. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Kevin from Texas
Kevin,
You’re referring to my research about saving fractured teeth, where I reported on four cases where I took a tooth with a vertical fracture, got the pieces of the tooth back together, fitting perfectly back together, held the pieces with a crown, and then followed the teeth long term. I actually did this successfully about ten or twelve times during my career, but had four cases documented well enough with photographs and x-rays to be able to include in the article.
There are two problems with your finding a dentist who will repair this for you. The first is a matter of timing. If you read the article carefully, you’ll notice that one factor I discovered that was critical in saving the tooth was that the fracture had to be addressed immediately, within a day or two.
I’m just guessing that if you’ve been to four dentists already that more than a day has passed since the tooth fractured.
The second problem is that my research hasn’t been accepted yet. In order for my research to be accepted, someone else is going to have to replicate it. That’s how these new ideas get established. Rarely will one researcher be able to establish that.
But any of your work in spreading the word about this research may touch some other dentist with a thirst for research to try to duplicate what I did. That will be too late to help you, but someone else may be helped.
Dr. Hall
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About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
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