I need 5 root canal treatments, two cavities filled, and want to throw in some teeth whitening. I’m extraordinarily busy. How much can be done in one appointment? Will I need to see a separate cosmetic dentist for the whitening or can that happen with the same dentist?
Bill
Dear Bill,
The amount of work a dentist will do during a single appointment varies by dentist. However, I have found that sedation dentists (which is simply a general dentist who uses sedation) will usually agree to more work per sitting. This is because it is easier on the patient when they have some sedation which relaxes them. In some cases, when using oral conscious sedation, they sleep through the entire appointment.
If your root canal treatments are on front teeth, you should be able to get all of them along with your dental fillings done in the same appointment. If the root canals are on molars, those take a little longer and you may want to see an endodontist in order to get them done in one appointment.
Most of the time, root canal treatments require a crown to be placed on the tooth for its protection. For front teeth, I would ask for an all-porcelain crown. For back teeth, I’d suggest either a zirconia crown or porcelain fused to metal because of the biting forces.
Teeth Whitening and Dental Work
As for the teeth whitening, it won’t require a cosmetic dentist. That procedure is straight forward and as close to a no-brainer as you can get in the dental field. If you were to decide to do something such as a smile makeover with porcelain veneers, that would be the time to get an experienced cosmetic dentist.
Once your dental crowns are made, the color is permanent. Because of that, I’d make sure to get the whitening done before the crowns are designed by your dentist. This way they can be made the correct permanent brighter color. If you wait, the crowns won’t whiten along with your teeth. The special gel only works on natural tooth structure. That would mean you’d have to replace the crowns to get them to match the remainder of your smile.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Sedation Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.