Lillian,
The way I’m interpreting the questions you’re asking, it seems to me that you’re making a fundamental mistake as you seek to get a beautiful smile. You seem to be looking for bargains, and that is getting you in trouble. You had your porcelain veneers done in Columbia, which I am guessing you did to save money. And now you’re looking for a dentist who is an Emblem Health participant to finish your smile makeover. You want a dentist who will accept the discounted fees of Emblem Health.

So now you have redness and swelling of your gums. This is gum disease. The reason you have it is that your veneers weren’t done right. They don’t fit right. They should fit smoothly and seamlessly to your tooth with a natural contour that will be conducive to good gingival health. When I am looking at photographs of the work of a cosmetic dentist, that’s one of the first things I look for—any gum inflammation. If I see that, I won’t recommend the dentist. If the dentist is applying to become accredited by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and there is gum inflammation around their work, they will flunk. Left unchecked, the gum disease caused by poorly fitting porcelain veneers will progress and could result in the loss of those teeth. Fixing this could be a simple matter of cleaning out excess bonding material, but my guess is that it will most likely require replacing the veneers, and I would recommend that you find an expert cosmetic dentist who can do this for you. If you had had this work done in the United States, you could have some legal recourse against this shoddy dentistry.

About your “New York doctor” who did your six veneers, I decided to do a search to find out more. In searching for dental tourism in Columbia, I found two dentists who advertise some connection to New York University, but I wouldn’t call them “New York doctors.” Their connection to NYU is flimsy, and it looks to me like they say this to give some aura of expertise to themselves. My advice would be to not fall for this.

And then, if you have a wide smile, why did they do only six teeth? This is a common mistake made by dentists who only dabble in cosmetic dentistry. Again, this mentality will cause a dentist to flunk AACD accreditation, and I would not recommend a dentist who is too timid or price conscious to tell a patient they need more than six veneers for a beautiful smile makeover that involves any kind of color change. A smile makeover that involves a color change requires eight veneers as a bare minimum, and often ten or even twelve veneers.

You asked if I know a dentist in Florida who is an Emblem Health participant who does cosmetic dentistry. Well, almost every dentist claims to do cosmetic dentistry. But I will tell you that I have interviewed maybe a couple hundred excellent cosmetic dentists and they are all limited in their dental insurance participation. They may participate in one or two of the best-paying dental plans, but it will be with the understanding that their cosmetic dentistry isn’t subject to any of the discounted fees of the plan. Doing quality cosmetic dentistry requires a significant investment in post-graduate training, spending quality time on the case, and using the best materials. I am familiar with a number of patients who have sought discounted cosmetic dentistry and they end up needing the work re-done.

In retrospect, the best way for you to have saved money on your cosmetic dentistry would have been to simply not do it. But now you have gum disease and a difficult situation that could be quite expensive to fix.

– Dr. Hall

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