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Drake & Wallace Dentistry

Ten Year Old Daughter Damaged Teeth

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I need some advice from you. My ten year old daughter took a nasty fall. One of her teeth is chipped and it looks like there is a horizontal crack on the other. I called my dentist and he can’t see her for a month. I really want to get this looked at before then. When I mentioned going somewhere else, he told me the roots have to settle down anyway. Is that true or is he just trying to get me to stay with him?

Nancy

Dear Nancy,

Girl in pediatric dental chair

I have no idea why he told you to wait. You certainly do not need to. In fact, I think he should have made room for her in an emergency dental appointment just to do some x-rays and make sure there is no damage to the pulp of her teeth. I would get her seen somewhere else.

The solution to the chipped tooth is dental bonding. However, not every dentist can do this. Even if you find one that does, make sure you look at some before and after pictures of dental bonding cases they have actually done. This is to make sure they can make the tooth blend and look natural. It is not an easy repair and you want your daughter’s tooth to look as natural as possible.

I hesitate to mention a solution to the other tooth without knowing more about it. I will just reiterate, don’t wait. This dentist can’t or won’t see your daughter, look for another pediatric dentist who will.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

My Dentist Doesn’t Seem to Care

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I had a molar that had a filling and now it cracked. My dentist placed a dental crown on the tooth. From the beginning, the place where he put the crown hurt. I mentioned that to them and they said sensitivity was normal. Yet, months later it still hurts to bite or chew in that area. In fact, I don’t do either. Fast forward a bit and I’m supposed to be getting a second crown. However, I specifically asked them when I came in to make sure the first crown is pain-free first. All they did was numb the area without any real changes then went ahead with the second crown. At this point, the tooth is still incredibly painful and now I have a periapical abscess. Now they’re saying it needs a root canal treatment. I think it may be time to just extract the tooth. As I feel my dentist caused this, is there a way to get a refund on the crown and just have him extract the tooth and I pay for that?

Ruthie

Dear Ruthie,

woman holding her jaw in pain

Your dentist was pretty uncaring about this, that is certain. Based on your description, it would have been smarter for him to do a root canal treatment upfront, knowing the tooth was cracked and already at risk. However, hindsight is always 20-20. My bigger concern is the fact they ignored your pain. While some teeth can have sensitivity after a dental crown placement, that type of sensitivity is different from what you described. It would normally be sensitivity to temperature changes, not pain with chewing as you described.

They left you in pain for months, then when you went in for another crown and asked them to deal with the first crown they did some token numbing and went directly to the second crown. It seems like they’re only after the fee they could get. Money comes from doing a second crown, not from fixing a crown you’ve already paid for. Unfortunately, being an uncaring dentist isn’t enough grounds to win a refund in court. There has to be malpractice. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a refund.

My suggestion is to talk to your dentist. If he doesn’t agree, then you can write a negative online review. If however, he has a lot of bad reviews and he hasn’t addressed them then you are not likely to get any result from that either.

Where to Go From Here

Rather than extracting the tooth, I am going to recommend you get the root canal, instead of the extraction. I don’t think your dentist is the best dentist to do the procedure though. You need someone who cares and is skilled. My recommendation would be an endodontist. The good news is because of your abscess, the endodontist can drill into your tooth and you won’t even feel it. However, that is not the case with an extraction. In fact, the area for an upper tooth would be almost impossible to get numb, making the procedure traumatic.

Then, once that is over, you have the additional problem of replacing that missing tooth. If you want the best type of tooth replacement, a dental implant, it will require surgery. I really think the root canal will be the best option for you.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentist Drs. Drake and Wallace.