Need advice about bad dental experience.
 

I had a crown put on a tooth about 6 weeks ago. I was glad when it was over because it wasn't a pleasant experience. I had to get several shots to deaden the pain before all the grinding began. Then it took the rest of the day (several hours) for the numbness to wear off. When I went back, it was a struggle getting the temporary crown off because it was put on too tight. So it was an ordeal but I didn't expect it to be easy.

Today, as I was eating lunch, I began to notice that the tooth was feeling a bit sensitive. So I looked at it in the bathroom mirror after brushing my teeth. To my horror, the porcelain crown cover was gone and all I could see was a dark gold color. When they recommended it they said it was porcelain over gold which was supposed to be the best for durability.

It seems that all dentists are closed on friday so I can't talk to anyone about it until monday. I can't stop eating so I guess I will be chewing on the gold part of it. I wonder what happened to the porcelain, did it just disolve over the short period of time that I had it?

And what should happen next? If it happened to you, would you be eager to have the same dentist do it again and go through the same ordeal all over again?

And this dentist was highly recommended to me on this board by more than one person. So much for relying on recommendations.

I think you might have to mention the name of the dentist, that way someone might have a way of reaching them. There has to be an emergency number. I have my dentist's private home phone number which was given to me in case of emergency.

Have you tried calling their phone service and leaving an emergency call with them?

These things seem to always happen at the start of weekends or holidays don't they?
I wouldn't worry about it. Just chew on the gold or other side and wait till Monday. What's done is done and you arn't going to make the crown any worse. They probably will have to replace it
Not likely the dentist fault but the lab that made it.

I called the dentist's office and got the dentist's home phone number. I called and got a recording. The recording said it was for someone who is experiencing pain. I left a message anyway but forgot to give my phone number at the end. Doesn't matter because I doubt she would call me back. Although, I might get a call on Monday morning.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Why did I have to notice it on Friday when the dentist is closed?

It's not the dentist's fault directly but I wonder if she might have given the job to cut-rate (discount) lab.

I doubt if she used a discount lab. The dentist doesn't want to do the same job a second time. I wonder if she'll charge you to do the repair. Hope not.

Perhaps I should ask if there's going to be a charge before I make an appointment. I don't know why there would be a charge; I didn't do anything wrong.

Instead of speculating, how about you call the emergency number back and leave your phone number this time. Don't complain about the unavailability and non-responsiveness of your dentist when you haven't given them an opportunity to reply to your situation.

You must have swallowed your crown. I hope it doesn't bite you in the butt.


(I was trying to be funny.)


I am pretty sure that the tooth will be repaired and there will be no charge. And I am pretty sure that when the dentist calls you she/he will say that you can wait until Monday and you will have to have new impressions.


Crowns and root canals seem to be a part of aging no matter how you brush and floss. My dentist is Dr. Kathleen Williams and I think she is very, VERY good.

Well I know it's not my Dental clinic as they are open on Fridays from 7:30AM till 2PM :)

As I have already said, she made it clear that you're only supposed to leave a message if you have swelling or are in pain.

Yesterday I was having soup for dinner (nothing hard) and I though there was some sand or something in one mouthful of food. So I got up and spit it out in the trash. I never imagined it might be part of the crown. And I don't know for sure that it was but it might have been.

Speaking of impressions, they have made a bad impression on me.

For some people crowns etc. can be a sign of aging. My mother died at age 83 and never had a crown or root canal. And she didn't have a mouthfull of fillings. She only had one or two fillings and one tooth missing. My sister, on the other hand, had a mouth full of silver. Wall to wall silver! So much for genetics. ;)

It wasn't Dr. Kathleen Williams. :)

looing for a dentist...please share the name of your dentist so I know where (NOT) to go.

Was it Dr. Luong?

Was it Dr Bhole or Idiare? I am considering them

Many if not most genetic things you get from the opposite sex parent. My mother at age 89 had all her teeth. My father had terrible teeth. I got my teeth from him. I also have his slightly crooked middle finger.

Question: What if I keep it as is, a gold tooth!
 

Does anyone know of any drawback to keeping the tooth as is? This tooth is the second tooth from the back and won't be noticed by anyone but me. Perhaps it wasn't designed to function as a gold tooth, I'm just wondering.

When I looked at it in the mirror this morning it looks like a normal tooth, it's just that it's gold. It doesn't look bad.


Note: For those looking for a dentist I'm sure there must be a way of checking to see how many complaints have been registered against a dentist. I just did a search and found: National Dental Reviews.org
Call: 1-800-Dentist Reviews

I haven't tryed it yet so I don't know anything about it. But I think it's better than giving you the name of my dentist. I don't think it's fair to judge someone on the basis of one unfortunate outcome when it may not have been her fault.

Do you want to do that if it'll be fixed for free? If it's a bad crown, the rest of it may fail later, and then you would be repaying for it somewhere down the line.

That's a good point. I guess I'll have to discuss it with the dentist and get her opinion. I'll have to ask if there's a set period of time to change my mind and still get if done at no charge.

need advice about bad dental eperience.
 

That happened to me in ny. I chewed on the other side until I got to the dentist a few days. He redid it with an all gold crown as that was the strongest kind of crown and its a chewing tooth. Good luck.

Thanks, it helps to know I'm not the only one. You said you had yours redone with gold. That's the kind I had to begin with. Anyone can google the code and find out all about it: D2790-Crown-Full Cast High Noble Metal Tth19

I just looked up my records to realize that my crown only lasted from May 8 to May 30th. Only 22 days.

If anyone googles the code, they will find that it's not really all gold. 60% of the crown consists of Noble metals such as gold, platinum, paladium and silver. And, of that 60%, 40% is gold. The reason for using these metals is for strength and to resist corrosion.

But if 60% of the crown consists of noble metals, I wonder what the other 40% consists of. Does anyone know?

I saw the dentist today and learned that the crown didn't have any porcelain on it when it was installed. When the temporairy crown was installed I looked at it and it was white. I suppose I just assumed the permanent crown would look the same except with porcelain. This mixup could have been avoided if they had showed it to me before installing it. But, obviously, they didn't see any need to do that. They assume everyone understands what they are getting.

She said they stopped making them with porcelain about 60 years ago because too many of them had problems. So this one is a mixture of gold and platinum. So that's it. I don't have to have it redone.

Hmm. That's odd. I have porcelain-crowned molars, and I'm 66! They all work fine, too.

Thanks for the information. I did get the impression that my dentist was exagerating when she said they stopped making them 60 years ago.

Here is a link to some information I just found. It specifies three types. 1) All metal 2) All ceramic and 3) Porcelian-fused-to-metal

Types of dental crowns: Gold, Porcelain, Porcelain-fused-to-metal, Ceramic.

VPL, I could be wrong. My crowns might be ceramic.