Did you really need that full mouth reconstruction? I’m suspicious.

Dr Hall,
I have been going to a local female dentist here for the last 10 years and over the last few years she has put new crowns in the top front (6 or 8) teeth with the metal backed crowns and they leave a black stain across my gums (and chipping, breaking) all the time and she charges to repair these…. so she doesn’t back up her work.

I found a cosmetic dentist in nearby (town’s name withheld), Dr. (doctor’s name withheld) and he inspected my mouth and told me that not only did those horrible teeth need to come out but that my bite wasn’t right and the top teeth were wearing down the bottom to the point of my bite collapsing. Well yesterday Dr. (name withheld) gave me 28 new temporary crowns – will get my permanent ones next week. They will be porcelain and the temps look great it’s just that I find it difficult to eat and maybe it will take some time. I guess I need to get used to it and learn to deal with it.

One more thing is when I order my new permanent crowns I want to make a couple of changes, such as slightly lengthening my eye teeth or maybe offset them slightly to give me a less perfect smile or should I say maybe they won’t look like false teeth. Do you have any input on this situation? It will be about a week or more before I have this done but I want to come out with the best “natural” looking and less fake smile. Is there any other tips! or tricks that I could do as well?

Thanks,
– David from Mississippi

 

David,
I’m glad you e-mailed me. You could be in for a lot of trouble, and you should take your next steps very carefully. I would not let this dentist put your permanent crowns on until you get two big issues solved. I am highly suspicious of this whole situation. I’m going to give you my phone number, and I want you to call me about this. But let me explain your situation first.

1. The number one issue is that you need to be sure that your bite is comfortable with the temporary crowns before proceeding with the permanent crowns. If I were you, I would call the dental office and ask that the laboratory order be put on hold until you have temporary crowns that are comfortable to your bite. Your dentist is opening your bite with a full mouth reconstruction. This is a risky procedure, and could leave you with serious TMJ disorder if it’s not done right. Clue number one for your impending trouble is that you find it difficult to eat. Clue number two is Dr. (name withheld)’s website, where, when I read his bio, I don’t see any clue that he has the advanced training that would be necessary to do work of this complexity. Ordinary dental school education isn’t enough – there are institutes such as the Pankey Institute in Florida or the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Education that train dentists to do this. And when dentists go through the trouble to obtain this advanced education, it is highly unusual that they would have a website that wouldn’t mention it.

2. You have some matters you want addressed in the appearance of the teeth. Those need to be settled BEFORE the dental laboratory starts making them.

Here is what you need to do, and I am emphatic about this. DO NOT let Dr. (name withheld) or anyone on his staff talk you out of this.
1. Get the laboratory work put on hold until you get the two issues above solved, and until you can get a second opinion about this work.
2. Go get a second opinion. You are spending well up into five figures on this, plus you are putting the rest of your life on the line. If this work isn’t done right and you end up with TMJ disorder, that can make you miserable for the rest of your life until you would get the work re-done. Don’t take this lightly.

I’m going to recommend you go see an excellent dentist in Lafayette, Louisiana, for an opinion on this. I have looked for excellent cosmetic dentists in your part of Mississippi, and haven’t been able to find any, so I think it would be worth it to you to make the trip to Lafayette. I looked up directions on Google Maps, and I see this is a drive of several hours for you. But that’s a small thing when you’re talking about something so major. It is Dr. Mike Malone. He is highly expert in both cosmetic dentistry and reconstructive dentistry. He’s a past president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and has been trained in advanced reconstructive dentistry at the Pankey Institute. But more than that, I have known him personally for many years, and he is a decent, honest dentist who will tell you what you need to do. Additionally, if you get out of the Jackson area, you avoid complications that can occur when the dentist giving the second opinion knows the first dentist. They might be buddies, which isn’t good, or they might be fierce competitors, which could be worse. And be sure you see Dr. Malone personally. He has two associates who do the general dentistry, and he does the advanced restorative. When you call, tell him that I referred you. His website is www.mikemalonedds.com, and the contact information can be found there.

I can’t make any declarations for sure without seeing you myself, but as I said in the beginning, I am highly suspicious. There are dentists who recommend full-mouth reconstructions purely for the profit involved. I certainly hope this isn’t the case with you, but you need to find out before this work proceeds any further. If the dental laboratory doesn’t make the crowns, that makes this whole thing a lot easier financially. You could transfer to another dentist, for example, for no additional expense. On the other hand, if the crowns are installed, then fixing you would involve starting all over from the beginning, preparing the teeth, and making new crowns from scratch.

Please call me on my cell phone, and you can talk to me about this.
– Dr. Hall

Link: Click here for information on getting a referral to an excellent cosmetic dentist.