Feeling very sorry for myself lol!

[JKEerie]

I've yet to see anyone do back flips into the chair in gleeful delight of dentistry! Glad you are back to "normal", Rosy! Tooth pain is the worst.

[Rosaboobie]

Guess what? On Friday night I was very gingerly eating a sandwich - NOT on the bad side I might add - and yes, the other part of the recently sheared off tooth, came right ouf of the gum - so now I have a huge gap in between the cement work where the bridge is going - I honestly thought that this dentist had already built up this "half" tooth in readiness for the bridge fitting on Friday! So now I am guessing that the bridge wont fit now cos of this tooth having fallen out, she says whilst banging her head against the wall!

[Diat60]

If that tooth was in such a state that it could fall out, it never would have supported a bridge. Not sure what he intends but this is definitely odd.

[Rosaboobie]

No, it was not intended to support the bridge, Diat - its actually in the middle of the bridge - but nonetheless it shows just what a fragile state my teeth are in!

[draclvr]

I'm gradually not getting a very "warm and fuzzy" feeling for this particular dentist. I can guarantee none of this would have happened with my dentist from the very beginning. When you mentioned he may not have gotten all the decay on the first go-around, I was a bit horrified. My dentist has had to repair bad dental work and problems exactly like this caused by bad dentists. I didn't say anything before, but this is starting to sound like this guy may have graduated at the bottom of the class. I went to Dave's dentist exactly once because I've always had excellent dentists and I could immediately tell he was not one of them when he tried to "repair" a partially broken off tooth with dental cement. Dave finally broke away and started going to mine - he was utterly amazed at the difference in the quality of care. If he would have stayed with his old dentist, he would probably be wearing full dentures by now.

I hope I'm wrong!

[Rosaboobie]

I asked this guy where he came from cos he kept saying Bitte to me, so obviously I thought he was German - When pressed he still would not tell me what nationality he was - But I insisted and then he told me was Syrian - and I just wondered where he has studied as a dentist. I am now wondering if indeed I should pay this guy's bill on Friday - I have already paid £1,000 - This can only happen to me lol...........

[JKEerie]

Oh, Rosy...I sure hope you can find some good dental service. I ended up having a dental implant instead of a bridge a number of years ago. It lasted a long time before I ended up losing the crown due to bone erosion from an adjacent tooth. I needed to have a bone graft and had the implant (now for two teeth) replaced. When I did so, the dental surgeon said "If this implant lasts as long as your last one (15 years), you should be fine." I told him "If that's the case, I'll be 70 years old and without dental insurance, so it better last a lot longer!"

[Rosaboobie]

Absolutely NO more cosmetic surgery for me - For the first time in my life, I felt my age this past week, and it was not a good feeling!

[JKEerie]

We should all go back to wooden dentures! Of course, then we'd likely have to worry about termites!

[draclvr]

Not all dental implants are cosmetic surgery. Dave has one. They create a "post" in your jaw with a cap on it above the gum line which allows a bridge to be used for the larger molar teeth or what Dave calls his "chompers." He had some deterioration of the bone in his jaw, so they had to build that up with cadaver bone. Then they essentially screwed in the post and let it all heal for almost a year. With the little cap on top he now has something to attach his bridge with "chompers" on. They wanted to do 4 of them, but he said that at $4,000 each, one was enough. He can chew quite well on one side now.

There are dental implants where they do put beautiful "teeth" on the posts, but that's not always what they are used for.

Is there some way you can find some reviews of this dentist? At some point, it might be best to cut your losses and find a better dentist. Again, maybe this is all incorrect and he's a fine dentist. But I had one alarm bell go off and now two are going off!!

[JKEerie]

That's exactly what I had needed, Drac. I lost a molar and had the option of a bridge or a single implant to replace the missing tooth. They put a crown over the implant. As I said, it lasted 15 years, then I had a problem with the adjacent tooth and it caused the bone to erode and the implant just popped out. So, I got a bone graft. After 6 months they did a dual implant and two crowns. There is nothing cosmetic about it. I can chew fully on that side. Had I lost the two rear teeth it would have been problematic.

[mbday630]

I have to take my mother in on Wednesday for a lot of tooth work. one of her teeth broke off at the gums and they have to build it up and then put a crown on it. but, when I was leaving the dentist showed me the xrays of her teeth and I made the decision that as long as she was in the chair and had anesthesia we were going to put crowns on the two bottom teeth. she looks like a bag lady with her bottom tooth broke off now. but, she was just talking to me and she said that she hates to spend the money since she might die any day. I told her that she has enough money to pay for it and not to worry. but, she is still from that generation that worries about every dime spent and if it is worth it.

[Diat60]

My dentist and I had a talk about implants (which she was quite enthusiastic about) and she quoted a price of $3000 EACH, half for the post and half for the cap. I figured how much it would cost for my whole mouth and it struck me that I could have bought a HOUSE for that thirty years ago. I'm sticking with my partial!

[Rosaboobie]

This is the reply from the dentist to my email today "Dear Rozanne,

Thank you very much for contacting us, we would like to reassure you that the piece that has come out is most probably from the temporary bridge and even if part of the temporary bridge has chipped off I will build it up before cementation of the bridge.

If you would like this part to be covered, please feel free to come in tomorrow, or another day that suits to see my colleague. We will of course pay for your travel.

If you are happy to wait and there continues to be no pain I will see you on Friday."

Strange that they keep saying they will pay my travel expenses - just makes me wonder ........

[draclvr]

Pay for your travel expenses? Hmmmm..... Build it up? When that other dentist tried to "build up" where I had half a tooth crack off below the gum line, I never went back. My current dentist said the only thing to do when that much was gone was a crown. That's been nine years ago and never a problem since.

Might be worth a query anyway...