I cracked a tooth after biting into a sandwich. An egg salad sandwich! There was nothing crunchy about this at all. When I went in to see my dentist he told me the tooth couldn’t be saved. I had a dental implant placed placed because he told me that was the best tooth replacement. I’m now having doubts about that. Everything has been a disaster. When he put the crown on I had serious pain. He ignored me about that. Then, I ended up with this burning sensation in my mouth. He said it was thrush. I wasn’t convinced. Thrush usually has white spots. I had nothing like that. It just felt like my tongue and inside of my mouth was burning. But, “he’s the dentist” so I took the prescription he gave me which did nothing. Surprise…
Then the area by the crown started hurting and I thought that it felt looser. The dentist wasn’t concerned but said he’d look at it the next time I was in for a checkup. A week later the crown fell off. I went to a different dentist because I’d lost all faith in this one. That dentist told me the implant was infected and had to come out. He asked if I’d want to replace it with another one. I’m thinking of just getting a dental bridge because this was a disaster from the beginning. Is there a way to get the dentist to pay for this new procedure or to at least get my money back on the old one?
Linda
Dear Linda,
You’ve got quite the dental implant horror story. I’m sorry this happened to you. While it is possible that someone can have dental implant failure even when their dentist did nothing wrong. There are some clues to me that this isn’t the case in your situation.
First, the thrush misdiagnosis. Second, the pain when he placed your dental crown hints to me he may have put too much pressure on the crown as he seated it. That could have caused some separation of the implant from the surrounding bone, which in turn would lead to dental implant failure. Third, when the crown was loose, he should have had you come in right away. That was a definite sign that something is wrong. He either didn’t know that, which reeks of incompetence, or did and chose to ignore it, which reeks of being unethical. I wouldn’t say either one of those are signs of the best dentist.
I would start by asking if he will pay for the replacement, not just give you a refund. That’s because you will need bone grafting done in order to replace the dental implant. Despite your experience with this dentist, it is the best tooth replacement. If your adjacent teeth are healthy, I would stick with a dental implant. That way you don’t have to grind down healthy tooth structure.
If your dentist refuses, you can see if the other dentist, who correctly diagnosed you, will go to bat for you. If end up having to go to court for the money, then you’ll need a dentist to testify anyway.
This blog is brought to you by the compassionate dentists in Decatur, AL, Drs. Drake and Wallace.