I have four crowns on my upper teeth that are badly stained, and need to be replaced. The dentist I am working with also wants to place six porcelain veneers, three on either side of the porcelain crowns. He could tell I wasn’t totally sold on the idea, and really poured it on, telling me how fabulous it would look, and how it would totally change my appearance. I had my doubts, but decided to go forward. I should have listened to my instincts!
I had the procedure done on a Monday, and by Wednesday I was starting to experience some pain. When I went back in for the recheck on Thursday, my dentist told me (after working on my mouth for forty-five minutes) that I was having pain because of “bruxism”. I had to ask what that meant, and he said “teeth grinding”, and made it sound like everyone should know that term. He said because of the grinding I would have to have all the veneers removed and replaced with porcelain crowns. WHAT? One of the veneers fell off yesterday when I was eating a sandwich. Clearly, if a soft sandwich caused a veneer to fall off, I need to do something, I just don’t know what.
Should I get a second opinion? I just can’t believe that I paid all that money for veneers, and now I have to pay to have them removed AND pay to have them replaced. This is not right!
Victoria in Tulsa, OK
Dear Victoria,
You are correct – something is wrong here. Many dentists claim to know something about cosmetic dentistry, and they simply don’t. If there is truly a problem with your bite, then your dentist should have noticed this before he did any work at all. If you already have a veneer falling off, it is even more evident that your dentist doesn’t really know what he is doing when he places porcelain veneers.
The best advice we can offer is to seek the services of an experienced, educated cosmetic dentist. Make sure you are being cared for properly, and then decide what to do about pursuing restitution from your current dentist.
This blog post courtesy of Grosse Pointe Woods cosmetic dentist Dr. Hadgis.