Dr. Hall,
In November 2009 I had a crown put on my number 8 front tooth. My tooth was slanted from sucking my thumb when I was little, and this was to fix that.
About 3 weeks after my crown was put on my tooth was really sensitive to hot and cold. I was told that was normal for the first few weeks. About 4 months later my tooth was hurting so bad that I had to go to the ER! The next day my face swelled up and I was out of work for 5 days. When I went to another dentist, they told me that my tooth was infected and that I would need a root canal and a new crown. I was like WHAT??? how could this happen? She told me that I had an open margin and it was from the crown not being placed properly.
I called the first dentist, who did the crown, and I told the secretary the situation. I told her that i deserved my money back because for his mistake i have to pay for another crown and a root canal!! she said that once the crown was in my mouth it was my responsibility!! I said even if it was a failed job???
Is he liable for this? Shouldnt he pay?? I have seen the xray and the open margin is huge! ! If he we re to have taken xrays at the end of the job he would have seen the open margin and knew it had to be redone.
At the time I was making payments on the crown and paid a little more than half. After I found out about his mistake i told the office i was not paying the balance . About three months later I got a notice saying he was suing me for the balance! I couldnt believe it ! I of course filled a countersuit and when I went to the small claims court his lawyer told me if i drop the counter claim then the dentist would “forgive my debit”. I said NO I want the money that I paid him and his lawyer said “Well he is not willing to do that.” The case now has to be handled by the superior court because civil court can’t deal with things like this.
My question is should this guy have fixed his mistake? Because of him I was in the most extreme pain I was ever in, I had to miss days of work, I had almost a dozen appointments ( emergency room, doctors and dentist visits), my face swelled up so bad that I could barely see and I had to get a new crown and a root canal . Please let me know what you think!
Thanks!
– Sarah from Massachusetts
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Sarah,
You have quite the story!
I have to qualify this because I can’t judge this without seeing. But just going from what you’re telling me, yes, your former dentist is liable for violating the standard of care. The most important thing to check when a new crown is being seated on a tooth is to run the explorer around the margins and make sure there is a good fit to the crown. Usually a dentist won’t take an x-ray before seating a crown, but they always need to run that explorer completely around the margins of the crown and check for any open margins. But having the x-ray you have is good documentation showing his negligence.
The problem, though, in many cases like this is that the dollar amounts involved make it impractical to involve lawyers and to go to trial. But here are a couple of things you can do to increase the pressure on this dentist to refund your money:
1. Threaten to complain to the dental board. Not as serious as a malpractice suit, this is still something that the dentist is strongly motivated to avoid.
2. Have the new dentist help you. A call from one dentist to another, verifying that there was indeed a problem with the work, can be very persuasive. In a trial, you HAVE to have an expert opinion of a dentist to back up any claim of negligence. Your word isn’t good enough.
3. Have a lawyer write a threatening letter. Rather than pay for an entire malpractice case, just having a letter from an attorney can get the dentist to take your complaint more seriously.
Dr. Hall
Click here to read more about porcelain crowns on front teeth.
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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.
Seems like this “cosmetic” dentist is in over his head
Dr. Hall,
I recently replaced my four veneers, two on each side of my front teeth. A few things did not come out as I wanted, but I was willing to overlook them because I just wanted to be DONE with this!!!!
The things I was willing to overlook:
1. When my dentist tried my two canine teeth on; they were too bulky and stuck too far out. So he polished the right one; this created a dark spot on the tooth. This was obvious, so he immediately agreed to replace it.
2. My left canine teeth still sticks out more than the others. But again, I was willing to overlook it because I felt too greedy asking for a perfect smile.
Before proceeding to cement my veneers the dentist showed me what they would look like and all look well. But later that day at night I noticed that my veneers looked darker; they looked grey! In day light my veneers look fine, but in artificial light they’re noticeably darker than my two front teeth. This is very noticeable especially since I whitened my two front teeth prior to the procedure. I immediately called my dentist to explain what happened. He told me he couldn’t do anything about it. He also stressed the fact that he showed them to me and I said it was fine. And this is true, but he showed them to me during day light- the windows were open and there were no artificial lights on. Had I known that the shade could change with different types of light, I would’ve asked him to close the windows and turn the lights on. But I never knew to do that, especially because my old veneers never changed in color depending on the light.
Please advise me what to do???? I can’t be stuck for 10 years with this problem. I’m extremely self-conscious about it and don’t even want to smile in public. Please help!!!! Thank you!
– Evelyn from California
Evelyn,
I’m not getting a lot of good vibes here about your “cosmetic dentist.” I’m wondering how you came to pick him.
The problem with your canine tooth concerns me. When it was tried on it was too bulky, so he polished it back and discovered that made a dark spot on the tooth. I’m sorry, but it sounds like he is learning as he goes. And so you are accepting that these two teeth are too bulky and are going to just live with it. Any dentist who has much passion at all for cosmetic dentistry would never tolerate that in a result but would do it over until it looked beautiful and you loved it.
The color problem you have is called color metamerism. Under one light, the porcelain matches your natural teeth. Under another light, they don’t. Apparently this is another surprise for your dentist who doesn’t appear to be aware of this principle. Excellent cosmetic dentists learn all these things.
It isn’t true that your dentist can’t do anything about it. He can replace the porcelain veneers. But if it were my front teeth, I wouldn’t let him do that but would try to get a refund. It seems like he is in over his head.
I’m guessing here, because I can’t see your case and don’t know your dentist, but what you are telling me leads me to believe that you asked the wrong dentist to do this artistic work for you. 98% of dentists are engineering types. They like to fix things, but they aren’t artistic and they have little passion or feeling for appearance-related dentistry. When I talk to a dentist, there is one question whose answer will tell me a lot about whether or not the dentist is an excellent cosmetic dentist, and that is, “What do you do if the patient doesn’t absolutely love what you did?” The really good cosmetic dentists won’t hesitate – they will send the case back to the lab if the patient has any doubt at all about how it looks. In fact, they will tell me that usually they are more demanding about the appearance of the work than the patient. That’s the kind of dentist you need.
I see from your city that you are about half an hour from an excellent cosmetic dentist that I recommend. I believe this office will give you a free consultation appointment just to take a quick look and verbally explain what some of your options might be. That’s what I would do.
– Dr. Hall
Click here to ask the dentist a question.
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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.
A cosmetic dentistry horror story – so many things turned out so wrong
Dear Dr. Hall,
Last year, I had gotten six veneers on top and two on bottom. After the dentist cemented them I realized that some of them had brush marks left from the lab. I told the dentist that I was unhappy. He tried shaving and polishing the veneers over several visits, and that only made them worse, as it destroyed the shine, made them fuzzy and irritated my mouth. After much arguing, he agreed to redo the four veneers that he had tried to polish, initially asking for a full price, but later agreeing to do it free of charge because I argued that it was his fault from initially not inspecting the veneers and later making the situation worse by trying to shave and polish them.
Second time around, when the veneers came back from the lab, some did not fit, all were a wrong shade and did not match the rest of my veneers. They had to be redone twice, to finally look decent. On the third attempt, the veneers fit, but were still a little off in color. The dentist told me “so what, the color is not that different.” There were also a small gap between two veneers, he also told me “so what, real teeth have gaps too.” Fed up with the unprofessionalism, I got the veneers cemented, since he told me that it was the best he could do. Two weeks later, the veneer that initially had a gap fell out. He put it back in. The next morning the veneer fell again. He just cemented it back on, telling me that this time around he etched the veneer better and it will not fall again. The gap got even bigger and I was very unhappy. I kept on insisting to get the veneer redone, he told me to “get out of his office” and that he is releasing me of his care.
One week after he cemented the veneer back on for the second time, the veneer fell again for the third time. I have visited several dentist and they all told me that in general my dentist has done a bad job and that all my veneers need to be redone. Out of the top six veneers, two old ones have huge spaces between the veneer and my gum and the yellow cement is showing. The four that he had redone also have visible spaces between the veneer and the gum, the veneers are discolored, one keeps on falling and one is crooked. Two of my teeth on top have become extremely sensitive, not only to cold and hot water, but even to air. One dentist told me it could be due to bad bonding. The cement on two bottom veneers has turned brown, one veneer is placed higher than the other.
I have seen three different densitst and they are all telling me to get the veneers redone, but I am concerned about redoing the veneers for the third time since I am only 28 years old. What are the risks of redoing the veneers three time in two years? What is the best solution in my case?
I have also sent a letter to my previous dentist, expressing my dissatisfaction and asked for a refund, but he has not responded. Should I pursue a civil action against him or file a complaint with the dental board? I would at least like to get a refund and be able to redo the veneers. I want to also make sure that this dentist does not do this to anyone else. He is extremely unprofessional and rude. I also feel that he should not represent himself as a cosmetic dentist, since he obviously scewed up my veneers. What is the best course of action? Thank you in advance for your time.
All the best,
Liana from California
Liana,
It sounds like you’ve been around and around with this dentist. I’d like to try to help you, but I need something more from you first.
Anyway, in general I think your frustration comes from working with the wrong dentist. You need to understand that a dental degree and a dental license don’t make a dentist an artist. Cosmetic dentistry is art, and they don’t teach it in dental school in the regular curriculum. Dental schools are designed to teach dentists how to fix teeth that are broken, not how to create beautiful smiles. And because the profession will not declare cosmetic dentistry a specialty, any dentist, without any extra training, can claim to be a cosmetic dentist, and it’s all legal.
The bonding technique is only a small part of what you need to have this done right. Remember that when they were done the first time, they were apparently bonded correctly, because they stayed on your teeth, but they were ugly and then he made them fuzzy and you asked to have them removed. If you hadn’t done that, they would still be on your teeth today, it seems to me. Is that right? So now you want to go to a different dentist who will bond them correctly. But how will they look, and, if they stay on, what will you do when you don’t like how they look?
You’re asking about the risks of doing porcelain veneers a third time and you are only 23. There isn’t a single answer to that question. If you are just going to a “dentist” to get this done, then the risks are high. It all depends on how you are picking the professional who is going to do this for you. In the hands of the wrong dentist, this is very risky. In the hands of the right dentist, there is practically no risk.
If you’d like me to help you with this, why don’t you write back and tell me the name of the dentist you plan to go to to have this fixed, and I’ll try to tell you something of the risks I think you’ll encounter. I have resources where I can look up a dentist’s training and get other information about them that helps me evaluate these things.
Once you find the right dentist to re-do this for you, I can help you work with the previous dentist. But your problem here is that cosmetic dentistry is not a legally distinct specialty, so to pursue any action against this dentist you need more of a case than that you just don’t like how they look. That is why it is so important to pick the right dentist in the first place, because when it comes to cosmetic dentistry, often you have no recourse. Yes, he was promoting himself as a cosmetic dentist, but MOST of the dentists who promote themselves as cosmetic dentists aren’t very good at it. I would think you could get a refund, though, but it will depend on how you go about it, and you need another dentist to back you up, first. So let me know and I’ll see what I can do to help.
Dr. Hall
Links: read more cosmetic dentistry horror stories.
Click here to ask the dentist a question.
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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.
Can I Switch Dentists in the Middle of Treatment?
Dr. Hall,
I am in a situation that I do not know what to do. I am in treatment for full crowns except for the six lower front teeth. My terms were all porcelain, they use empress, and flush emergence from the gums. The Dr. assured me he could do that, he is a prosthodontist with an in-office dental lab. First fitting (the upper 6 teeth only so far), the teeth were rounded at the gums and I could feel the line between the crown and the natural tooth. They did not look like normal teeth. I had him do them over and then the crowns were pushed up against my gums which made my gums lose the pinkish color. They looked like a set of dentures. He said I didn’t have any gums. I wore them out with temp glue and returned with my before pics and made sure he could see my gums. They made new ones and they are in now with temp glue. Some have flush emergence from the gum, but in the back, the crowns do not cover the sensitive area of my underneath teeth. I cannot stand to put anything hot or cold near the roof of my mouth. I am so distraught. I STILL have temporaries on all my other teeth. I am so concerned about the pressure on my real teeth and gums right now.
I want to get a 2nd opinion but I don’t know if anyone will even take my case at this point. Will they? I have paid this Dr. $29,000. Can I get a refund and go somewhere else at this point? I have taken pics of the last permanents that I had him do over and I can take pics of these. I cannot go to Dr. D (a dentist that we recommend) at this point because he was my next choice from this Dr. and Dr. D knows that. I can go to someone in (City A) or (City B). I am terrified because this is my whole mouth!! Please advise me. Thank you.
– Deborah
Deborah,
Prosthodontists tend to be the ultimate in the engineering mentality that think that your concern over how the teeth look is not worth their time to address. So you have a basic conflict with the dentist. You want a beautiful smile. While he may be polite, he thinks that he would be pandering and unprofessional if he is that concerned with a trivial thing like the appearance. In his mind, he knows best, the teeth he has made look good enough, and you are a troublemaker. You are really in the wrong office, and the faster you get out, the easier – unless you just want to turn the dentist loose and have him do it the way he wants. But you’ll be crying every day you look in the mirror if you do that.
I’m not sure I understand why you can’t go to Dr. D. Are you saying that he was your second choice and he knows that? Why should that matter? You made a very understandable mistake – you thought that a prosthodontist was the ultimate expert in crowns, and you didn’t realize that prosthodontists are engineers usually and not artists. That’s a very reasonable assumption, and I can’t see how that would be a problem to admit that to Dr. D. He would be flattered that you chose him in the end.
Anyway, you need to go to an artistic cosmetic dentist. Pick one. If you want to be sure you don’t make a mistake this time, go to one of the cosmetic dentists we recommend. I take this responsibility of recommending cosmetic dentists very seriously, and everyone on our list is carefully screened for artistic ability and cosmetic dentistry training. And then ask this cosmetic dentist how he or she can help you from this point. I can’t tell you anything more specific than that without a personal examination of your case.
Dentists are obligated by a code of ethics to do everything they can to make it so you can switch dentists, even in the middle of treatment. The two dentists would need to talk and figure out between them how to proceed, and you would have to work out what payments would have to be made to whom. It can be done, and it’s not hard. Take that first step and go in for a second opinion, and everything after that will be relatively easy.
Good luck,
Dr. Hall
Links: You may be interested to read my post, What is the difference between a prosthodontist and a cosmetic dentist?
Click here to find a cosmetic dentist near me. Every dentist listed is personally screened by Dr. Hall for artistic ability and cosmetic dentistry training.
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.
I don’t like my porcelain veneers
Dr. Hall,
I got 8 porcelain veneers about a month ago. I wasn’t impressed by the waxon models, but they promised that it would look better. Before they put veneers on, they let me look at them on my teeth without attaching them all the way. I didn’t like them at all. The shape is not what I expected them to have, color is almost stained, gaps are between every tooth along the gum line and some teeth just slightly touch and have gaps. The dentist said that we can put them on and see if I still don’t like them. Even now I am not happy with the result. Dentist told me that the lab person got kinda mad at him for listening to my complaints and it’s the best that can be done. But if I really-really wanted, I could start the whole process with the same cost. Is there anything I can do? And is it true that, if I don’t like the result, they are not required to fix it. Thank you very much for your time.
– Max from Colorado
Dear Max,
I’m not sure I’m hearing you right. It sounds like this dentist went to the trouble to make a wax simulation of what your porcelain veneers would look like, and you didn’t like it, but he went ahead and had them made anyway. And then, after the lab made them, they tried them on, and you still didn’t like them, but they bonded them on anyway. What was the point of the try-on? And what kind of dental laboratory technician would get mad at a dentist for listening to the complaints of a patient? The patient, after all, is ultimately paying the salary of both the dentist and the laboratory technician. The whole scenario you’re painting for me just seems weird.
One of the most prominent distinctions between a true cosmetic dentist and a general dentist who does cosmetic dentistry is that the true cosmetic dentist will always have procedures in place to make sure that you like the work before it is finally bonded on. It sounds like your dentist went through the motions of doing this, but without the intention of actually making you happy.
Unfortunately, you gave your implicit consent to the appearance of the porcelain veneers by allowing him to bond them on. And, with cosmetic dentistry, most of the dental profession doesn’t appreciate it at all, so the standard of care is that it needs to look only halfway decent and it needs to function okay. As long as your porcelain veneers function, I think you’re stuck.
Whatever you do, don’t have this guy re-do them. Either I am missing something fundamental in what you’re telling me or this guy doesn’t mean what he says. You have no assurance that the second time will be any better. In fact, you can pretty much count on it coming out the same.
There are some excellent cosmetic dentists in the Denver area. Check our list and go to one of those and see what they think.
Dr. Hall
Click here for referral to an expert cosmetic dentist near you
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.
Dentist can’t get porcelain veneers color right
Dr. Hall,
I just got 6 porcelain veneers on my front teeth,this was the second time in about 3 weeks. The dentist made them the first time and they looked awful. The second time he sent them to the dental lab. I was allowed to tell the lab man how I wanted them. I picked a very white shade, when my dentist went to put them on, the teeth were yellowish,especially the 2 front teeth.The lab man said the dentist told him to add a little color. The dentist would not say anything about them. the lab man said they could polish some yellow out, but the dentist would not do it and said the porcelain would come off. Is there any kind of whitener i could use to bring the stain off? it looks like a coffee stain . what about super smile toothpaste or teeth bleaching gel?
Thank-you,
– Jane from Ohio
Jane,
I wish I had a better answer for you. Teeth bleaching or whitening toothpaste won’t work. It sounds like the yellow was put on a superficial stain, which means an expert cosmetic dentist could polish the color out or grind it out, and re-polish the porcelain veneer so that it would look good. (Don’t ask your dentist to do this.) But that has to be done carefully.
Here’s the problem – your dentist may be a great guy, honest, and careful, but he isn’t an artist. And in dental school they teach dentists to be somewhat condescending toward patients on appearance-related issues. The dentist knows best, and the fact that you want these bright white, unnatural-looking teeth is evidence of that. They just don’t get it.
I think you’re well within your rights to ask that this be done a third time. You’re the one who has paid for a new smile, and the dentist going over your head to overrule you on the color of your smile, and then to bond these porcelain veneers on without your getting a good look at them–that could well be considered malpractice. What it violates is the doctrine of informed consent, a fundamental principle of malpractice law. He put yellow porcelain veneers in your mouth without your consent. I think a judge and a jury would stand behind you in that.
Your best option would be to get a refund from this dentist and go to a true artist/dentist to get this smile makeover done–the kind of cosmetic dentist we recommend on our website. That way you would not only get the color you want, but you would get an absolutely gorgeous smile in every respect. But better than nothing would be to get this dentist to do these porcelain veneers a third time.
I would go back to your dentist and tell him that you believe he violated your right of informed consent by putting on these yellow porcelain veneers when you gave explicit instructions about the color you wanted. Explaining it in this way should have a strong effect on him, because it will sound like something important he learned in his dental law class. So tell him you either want a refund, or you want him to take them off, have new ones made, and this time you insist on getting a good, long look at the new veneers on your teeth before they’re bonded on. Bring in a friend or a family member to help you look at them before they’re bonded on. And then, when you’re satisfied with the color, make him promise that he’s going to bond them on with clear bonding resin and not do anything sneaky like add tints to the bonding resin.
Good cosmetic dentists will go to great lengths to make absolutely certain that you love your new smile before they bond it on. So if you have any friends who want porcelain veneers, tell them to go to a mynewsmile.com recommended cosmetic dentist, so that this doesn’t happen to them.
– Dr. Hall
Click here for referral to an expert cosmetic dentist.
Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question.
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.
The impression got stuck in my mouth!
Dr. Hall,
I went to a dentist here in New Jersey to have a bridge to replace a missing molar. After the two adjacent teeth were prepared, the dentist took an impression of my lower teeth. After it set, he was unable to get the mold off my teeth. It took about a good half an hour of spraying all kinds of stuff in my mouth, rocking and pulling while i was thinking that all my teeth was going to be pulled out, or my jaw broken. My question: Have you seen this happen before and should I continue with this dentist or should I see another dentist.
Thank you very much,
Len in New Jersey
Dear Len,
I wouldn’t quit going to this dentist over this. I’ll bet many dentists have had something like this happen in their practice, especially if they use certain precise impression techniques.
What happens is that there is a stiff putty that is used in certain impression techniques, and it is used with a lighter-body wash impression material. The putty pushes the wash into fine crevices in order to pick up the tiniest details in the impression. If your teeth or your jaw have undercuts, or if you have another dental bridge in your mouth somewhere, it’s possible for the putty to get into the undercuts. If it does, it can be very hard to remove. It’s nothing the dentist did wrong, really. It’s just kind of embarrassing and it can really throw the schedule off. The impression may well need to be cut off.
If there is an existing bridge or another significant undercut where the putty impression material can get under and lock in place, the dentist should put something, such as a piece of soft wax, under the bridge or the undercut before taking the impression. That will keep the impression material from getting into that undercut and will make the impression easier to remove.
– Dr. Hall
Related links:
Read about dental crowns and porcelain crowns.
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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.
I have a lisp now with my porcelain veneers
Dr. Hall,
I had porcelain veneers on my four front teeth #7,8,9,10. My teeth were very healthy but slightly unattractive. They all started to crumble and break within week. After failed attempts to glue them back together, I saw another dentist, who did six veneers, including my canines, #6 and 11. However this second set fractured the next day. I was told they were baked too long and the cracks did not appear until they were wet in my mouth.
These were replaced, however this third set is much longer and I now lisp. Also # 7 and #10 are rotated and stick out beyond #8 & 9. I never had misalignment before this. The second Dentist said he would replace the four front if I am not happy. I am not happy having over $6000. on my charge card. I wish I HAD MY TEETH BACK – THEY WEREN’T THAT BAD! I plan to have this done for the fourth time in Jan. Any advice? Also why do I lisp now – I never did before. Will it go away?
Thank You, Marilyn
a dental hygienist in New York
Dear Marilyn,
There has to be a reason that you keep ending up getting porcelain veneers from dentists who don’t know how to do them. Maybe someone has given you the idea that these are easy to do and any dentist can do them. Well, you’ve proven that wrong, haven’t you?
Even if a porcelain veneer cracks, none of the pieces will come off the tooth unless there is a problem in the bonding of them. They are very thin and aren’t strong at all by themselves. You can crush one in your fingers. It is the bond to the tooth that gives them their strength. I’ve seen cracked porcelain veneers stay on the teeth for months.
And you would never end up with porcelain veneers that are too long if you went to an expert cosmetic dentist. Dentists that love doing smile makeovers always have some mechanism for making sure that the appearance of porcelain veneers is pleasing to you before they are ever bonded on. Many of them will make a prototype set of veneers and place them before making the final ones. Others will use computer imaging combined with a try-in, or wax-ups, or other tools to make sure that you have a full chance to evaluate the appearance and feel of the veneers before they are finally bonded.
Yes, porcelain veneers that are too long, besides looking funny, could cause you to lisp. Also if they’re too thick.
And’s what’s this with four porcelain veneers and then six? A smile includes either eight or ten upper teeth. I hope you at least bleached your other teeth.
My advice to you? Bite the bullet and go to a true cosmetic dentist – one who makes his or her living doing smile makeovers and not one who does this as a sideline. Someone who has done this enough to be able to work out all the bugs. Someone who has such a passion for creating a beautiful smile that he or she will fly to courses all around the country to learn the best techniques from the masters in the field. These are the kinds of cosmetic dentists we have listed on our New York cosmetic dentists page.
When you go to such a cosmetic dentist to have these fixed, you will end up ecstatic about how your smile looks, so much so that you may smile continuously for about a week, so amazed at how beautiful your teeth look that you’ll be looking at them in your rear view mirror as you drive. That’s what we see with new smiles that are done right.
Dr. Hall
Related links:
Read about Invisalign invisible braces.
Be wary of Lumineers and GlamSmile.
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.
My new porcelain veneers have lost their shine
Dr. Hall,
I recently had 6 porcelain veneers placed and was unhappy with the bulkiness from two of the veneers and my dentist reshaped the veneers by filing down the veneers and when he did it changed the color from a pearl/grayish white to a whiter lighter color, which I like however, now the veneers are dull, no shine. Is there anything that can be done to add shine. And will my veneers now stain? I thought that veneers where the same color all throughout and was surprised the color changed with the filing/reshaping.
Help!
Candace in Ohio
Dear Candace,
Your question is a great springboard for making the point about the unforeseen difficulties that can occur when you don’t have an expert cosmetic dentist doing your smile. When dentists aren’t passionate about the appearance of the work (and well over 90% of them aren’t), they don’t take the trouble to learn all of these important details.
This dentist bonded on porcelain veneers that were too bulky, and you didn’t like the color. A true dentist/artist will make sure, before they are bonded, that they are beautiful in your eyes, and this won’t even come up. I hear this all the time in my e-mails. The patient got home, studied his or her smile in the mirror, and wasn’t happy. This is because dentists are trained that they know best, and it’s not in their nature to let the patient be in charge of whether or not they like how their smile looks. This mistake doesn’t happen with a true cosmetic dentist.
So you came back and told him the front two were too bulky. Now I’m not absolutely sure of this next point, but it seems to be true from what you’re telling me, that this dentist was then on unfamiliar ground. He ground the color off, which may have surprised him, too. And now he doesn’t know how to bring back the gloss. And yes, with the glaze gone on the porcelain veneers, they will pick up stain quite readily.
The dentist can bring back the shine with meticulous polishing techniques using diamond-impregnated ultrafine polishing wheels or pastes, with which he is probably unfamiliar. But even if he does that, you’ve still got two problems that I think are serious. 1) The color of these two adjusted veneers (you didn’t say if he ground down just these two or all of them–I’m guessing he just did the two) is probably flat now. I doubt that they have the natural color gradient that teeth are supposed to have. 2) You don’t like the color of the other four veneers, and they now don’t match these two.
I would recommend a second opinion from a true artist/dentist on our list of Ohio cosmetic dentists. And I think you should get a complete re-do of this case until you are truly thrilled with how they look, because you paid for a beautiful smile and you didn’t get it. But you will maybe be satisfied with just getting these polished.
Dr. Hall
Related information:
MAC Veneers are one brand of porcelain veneers that have the color on the surface
Find an expert cosmetic dentist
Click here for a list of Ohio cosmetic dentists.
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.
How to ask for a refund from your dentist.
(Updated Nov. 2, 2020)
This post was prompted by an e-mail I received from Dr. Jeffrey Segal, the CEO of Medical Justice Services, not by a visitor question. But the topic is very relevant for many of our visitors, and that is, what is the impact on the dentist of your asking for a refund for dental work when you’ve had a problem? So I wanted to post this.
One of the worries dentists have about giving a refund is that refunds can go on their record at the National Practitioner Data Bank. They want to avoid this. I recommend giving the dentist an easy way to give you a refund.
Oh, and you need to know that many dentists aren’t aware of these rules, so it may help you to educate them as to the latest rules.
If your demand for a refund is oral and not written, and if the dentist makes the refund himself or herself, rather than going to their insurance company or the corporation the dentist works for, then the refund does not have to be reported. If the demand is written, it needs to be reported. If the corporate entity writes the check, then it also has to be reported.
If I were asking for a refund, and I were getting some resistance from the dentist, I would say something like, “Look, I’m willing to make this easy for you. I’m making this request orally, which means you do not have to report this to the National Practitioner Data Bank. Let’s not make this messy and just keep it simple.”
And then, if you get resistance, you need to know your three basic options for applying pressure to the dentist. You don’t need to threaten to sue in order to apply pressure. Let the dentist know that you are aware of all of these options:
- The first and most gentle option is with negative online reviews. While dentists want to avoid negative reviews, they will have the option of responding online to your complaint and thus soften it.
- The second is to complain to the state dental board. This can be fairly strong pressure. If your complaint is legitimate, the dental board has the power to make things very difficult for the dentist.
- The final option is going to a lawyer. Just a letter from a lawyer can motivate a dentist to action, or you can go to a full-blown lawsuit. But here you not only need a legitimate complaint but a substantial one before a lawyer will be willing to take up your case.
– 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.