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Help with a Failed Dental Implants

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I broke a tooth and my dentist felt it couldn’t be saved. He extracted the tooth right then. It was a horrible appointment and the pain felt like it passed through my brain. Ever since then, the whole inside of my mouth has been burning. He’s blown that off, but every appointment I have had with him has been excruciating. After my third complaint, he finally said I had thrush and gave me a prescription. That hasn’t helped at all. Three months later, I still had an issue and it was time to place the implant crown. He had the darndest time screwing it on. He had to press pretty hard and ended up giving me a Novacaine shot because I was crying. A couple of months later, while I was on vacation, the dental crown fell off. I saw a dentist and also mentioned the burning. He felt the burning was from burning mouth syndrome. He also said the dental implant was infected and needed to come out. I don’t know that I trust my dentist and I don’t know what to do. Should I sue him and get a new implant or just sue him and get a dental bridge? I’ve spent a fortune on this and have had nothing but agony to show for it.

Elaine

Dear Elaine,

Diagram of a dental implant

While I can understand you not trusting your dentist after the treatment you received, I would recommend asking for a refund before going for a lawsuit. He may be amenable to refunding your money. If he isn’t, you can threaten to go the dental board or leave a bad review. That may sober him up. If that doesn’t work, you can try for a malpractice suit, but you will need another dentist on your side. You should also be aware that dental malpractice suits are tricky.

While I do not necessarily have confidence in your dentist either, after all he completely blew the thrush diagnosis. I do think your vacationing dentist was correct about the burning mouth syndrome. You had a traumatic dental appointment and that is one of the major connections of burning mouth syndrome.

However, before you have the implant removed, I’d like you to get a second opinion. It could be as simple as having a loose dental crown. While that still does not speak well about your dentist, I would not want to have an unnecessary surgery for it. Your vacationing dentist said that the dental implant was infected, but you did not mention anything about pain or a fever, which makes me question that diagnosis.

See where your dental implant actually stands before doing anything drastic. This may still be salvageable. If it isn’t then I recommend going to a an implant dentist who has more expertise. It is a better tooth replacement option than a dental bridge.

One last thing, while you are looking for a new dentist I recommend you get a sedation dentist. You’ve had several traumatic dental appointments and having some dental sedation will give you a relaxing, pain-free appointment.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Can a Holistic Dentist Fix My Dentist’s Mistake?

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I’m scared of what’s going to happen to me and need some advice. My dentist told me I needed a filling. I was surprised because I didn’t feel any different. But, I’ve never had a cavity before so maybe that’s normal. I insisted on a composite filling because I didn’t want a metal filling. My dentist agreed, which was a relief. However, while he was working on my tooth he suddenly said it’s infected and he needs to do a root canal treatment and dental crown. That surprised me more. Surely I’d feel an infection. As he’s the dentist I decided to trust him. Sometime during the procedure, I heard and felt a snap. My dentist said the file broke and it’s best to just leave it as is. Then he proceeded to move on. I was flabbergasted. If I didn’t want a metal filling, I certainly don’t want a metal file in my tooth. Should I see a holistic dentist? Would they be a better option for fixing this?

Livvie

Dear Livvie,

someone holding an aloe vera plant in their hands

Holistic Dentists Consider the Health of the Whole Body

I can understand your concern. First, I want to tell you while a broken file isn’t a regular thing, it does happen. Sometimes it’s a faulty file. Sometimes the dentist made a mistake. Sometimes it was just a freak accident.

It’s not unheard of for dentists to leave a broken file in place. Generally, it’s because they don’t want to irritate the area too much. However, I don’t blame you for not wanting to leave a piece of metal in your mouth.

A Holistic Dentist Will be More Sympathetic

While many dentists will tell you it’s not worth the trouble to remove the file, holistic dentists will understand your feelings. They tend to consider the health of the whole body and will understand your desire not to leave metal in the canals of your pulp tooth.

They will either remove it themselves or, if they feel that will be too traumatic, will give you a referral to a specialist.

Diagnosing Tooth Problems

Patients don’t generally feel decay. The exception to that is when it is so extensive it affects the pulp of the tooth or is close to a nerve. In that case, you would need a root canal treatment because the tooth is infected. However, an infected tooth is painful. So painful, it even drives those who abhor going to a dentist into the dental chair.

The fact that you had absolutely no pain makes me wonder if your decay was really as extensive as he said. If you’re concerned you were misdiagnosed, it’s perfectly acceptable to take your x-rays to another office to get a second opinion. As you’re going to see a holistic dentist anyway, I’d recommend you do that.

If it turns out you were misdiagnosed, you will be within your rights to demand a full refund. He should also pay for the appointment to remove the file. Because of the challenge in removing the file, you might consider getting dental sedation for that procedure. This will enable you to be relaxed and even sleep if you so choose during what could be a longer than normal appointment.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Susan Dennis.

Bump on Husband’s gums

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I noticed my husband has been babying his mouth. When I asked him what was wrong he said he thinks he jabbed his gum with something sharp and cut it. The next day, he was in obvious pain so I asked him to let me peek. When I did, it wasn’t a cut, but rather more like a bump. It looked like a pimple, but you don’t get those on gums, do you? Is it a big deal? He’s certainly in a lot of pain.

Cassie L.

Dear Cassie,

A man holding the side of his mouth from pain, in need of an emergency dentist

A pimple on your gums is a dental emergency

A pimple on your gums, or in this case your husband’s gums, is known as an abscess. This means he has a dental infection which has spread. What likely happened is your husband developed a cavity. Many times you can’t feel a cavity so he may have had no clue that decay was growing.

Either it was a fast-growing cavity or he has been neglecting his dental appointments so there was no x-rays or exam to give him a heads up. Whichever it was, at this point a simple filling would have taken care of things. Without that, it would continue to spread. Once it covers over 1/3 of the tooth a filling isn’t sufficient and he’d need a dental crown.

If he still doesn’t notice it or just ignores it, the decay will eventually reach the pulp of his tooth. He would definitely notice this. It’s quite painful. Once that happens, it would turn into an infection and need a root canal treatment to “cure” it. This is also the point where it would be considered a dental emergency. If he doesn’t have a regular dentist, he’d need to call an office who treats non-established patients in the case of an emergency. You can often find them by doing an internet search for an “emergency dentist”.

A pimple is what happens when the infection has no place else to go and is “spilling” out of the tooth.

The Importance of Dealing with Dental Emergencies

Too often patients think a dental infection can be treated like a bacterial infection they get elsewhere in their body. However, our mouths are a tad different. Once the infection reaches the pulp of the tooth, it causes it to die. That means no more blood flow can reach the area.

Even if you took an antibiotic, the most it could do was hold off the infection from the surrounding tissue where the medicine can reach. Then, once the antibiotic is gone the infection will return.

The only thing that will truly take care of the situation is for the dentist to get in there and physically remove the infected tissue. Hence the need for a root canal. Without that, the infection will run rampant. If you think about how close your jaw is to your heart and brain it could turn life-threatening rather quickly. In fact, every year people still die from tooth infections left untreated.

Don’t let your husband be one of them. Get him to the dentist.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Do Screw Retained Implants Make Implant Success Higher?

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I’ve been getting consultations from various dentists about dental implants. The last one I saw said something different from the rest of them that has me curious. He said he has a 100% success rate and that is because he only uses screw-retained implants. Does that really affect the success rate?

Livvie T.

Dear Livvie,

diagram of a dental implant in bone

Screw-retained implants are referring to the crown, not the dental implant. Once your implant is successfully integrated into your jaw it’s time to place the crown. Your two choices are screw retained crowns and cemented crowns. The rather significant advantage to them being screw retained is the lack of cement. When a crown is cement bonded, there will always be some cement that seeps out no matter how skilled the dentist is. While they will try to manually remove it, if any gets trapped behind, it could cause bacteria to develop.

Infection is one of the leading causes of dental implant failure. But, having a cement retained crown does not mean there will be an infection. It just gives one additional opportunity for one. ย There are some cases where you can’t place a screw retained crown without negatively impacting the aesthetic results.

More important than what type of crown is used, in my opinion, is the qualifications of the dentist. Does he or she have significant dental implant training outside of general dental school? Do they have a high success rate? Have you checked their reviews?

If it’s a front tooth, you’ll also want to know they have an artistic eye for the cosmetic side of things. You want the implant crown to be both natural looking and beautiful. It’s imperative it matches seamlessly with your other teeth. Look at their smile galleries to see what kind of cosmetic results they obtain.

I hope this helps you.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Susan Dennis of Portage, Michigan.

 

Are Holistic Dentists the Same in the U.S. as Taiwan?

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I’ve been in the US for three years while I go to university. I haven’t been to the dentist in that time, but recently began a toothache. My nainai wants me to come home over winter break so I can have toothache treated. My nainai said that in the US they still use mercury fillings. I don’t want mercury fillings, but I also don’t want to use my whole break that way. Are there holistic dentists here in US like in Taiwan? Are there differences?

Bai C.

Dear Bai,

someone holding an aloe vera plant in their hands

Holistic Dentists Consider the Health of the Whole Body

It’s great that your nainai cares so much about you. It always feels wonderful to have someone whom you know is looking out for your best interests. While your grandmother is correct that we still use mercury fillings in the United States, that doesn’t mean you have to get a filling which contains mercury. Instead, you could get a composite filling, which is completely mercury-free.

We do have holistic dentists in the U.S. All of them will be mercury-free. Beyond that, each one is a little different in their philosophy of dental care. But, they will all consider your views and what you feel is important for healthy care.

Waiting until winter break is a bad idea for three reasons. First, this could blow up into an infection very quickly. In fact, it could turn into a dental emergency. Believe it or not, people still die from tooth infections even with all our modern advancements. Those who do, it’s because they put off treatment and the infection spread to their heart, lungs, or brain, which are all quite close to your jaw.

Secondly, even if it didn’t turn into a dental emergency, traveling with a toothache is absolutely miserable. Your body adjusts to the changing air pressure in a plane as you rise and fall. Most often, you’ll experience ear popping as part of that adjustment. Your mouth experiences changes too. With healthy teeth, you don’t feel the differences, but if you have an infected tooth the change in pressure is painful.

A final reason not to wait on treatment is financial. The sooner you have the tooth worked on the more affordable the treatment will be. Right now you may only need a filling. But, if you wait, it could turn into a root canal treatment or dental crown. Even worse, things could get so bad that you lose the tooth and have to pay for tooth replacements such as dental implants.

Bottom line…don’t wait. Tell your nainai that we have holistic dentists here and get seen.

This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Root Canal with a Porcelain Veneer

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I had four porcelain veneers placed. For a while, I was having some pain that I thought was from a sinus infection. It turns out I have a periapical abscess. Will this ruin my porcelain veneer? I heard root canals turn teeth dark. Should I avoid the treatment and just live with the pain?

Helen

Dear Helen,

First things first, don’t avoid the treatment. An abscess is an infection. All tooth infections are considered dental emergencies because of the danger if they spread. A periapical abscess is close to the bone. Infections spread and you don’t want it spreading to the bone. This needs to be treated. That being said, I’m concerned that you ended up needing one to begin with. Most dentists go their entire careers without having a tooth, which had a porcelain veneer placed, need a root canal treatment.

Those I know of which have, it is because the dentist was too aggressive in the treatment.

A tooth being prepared for porcelain veneers

Porcelain Veneers Preparation

When you prepare teeth for porcelain veneers it doesn’t remove much structure at all. It is a little over the depth of a fingernail. When that happens, there is hardly any stress to the tooth. However, some dentists do much more aggressive tooth preparation, which risks stressing the tooth and make it more vulnerable.

There are even some dentists, who are either less reputable or less skilled, who will do porcelain crowns and just call them porcelain veneers. Below you can see what porcelain crown preparation looks like.

tooth prepared for a porcelain crown

Porcelain Crown Preparation

With that, there is a much greater risk of stress to the tooth which can lead to other problems. Hopefully, this isn’t what happened to you.

Keeping Your Porcelain Veneer White Longer with a Root Canal Treatment

Here is the strategy I will suggest for your root canal treatment.

First, make sure they clean out ALL the material from the crown of the tooth. Then, instead of placing the “normal” root canal material, which is the cause of most darkening of the tooth, they need to place a white fiberglass post down into the root and then fill the remainder of the space with a light-colored composite material.

Doing this will keep your tooth whiter for much longer than you would otherwise be able to with a root canal.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Susan Dennis of Portage, MI.

My Husband is Afraid of the Dentist

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How do I help my husband overcome his dental anxiety?ย  He’s always been afraid of the dentist. Mostly that’s because it was an unknown to him. His parents never took him to the dentist when he was a child. I finally convinced him to go, just once to see what it was like. He did go, but it turned out he needed a lot of work. Plus, his gums were very tender so it was a painful experience for him. The dentist quoted him thousands of dollars of work. I’m afraid he’s going to use finances as an excuse not to go, but in reality, he just didn’t like how it felt. How can I help him?

Amanda L.

Dear Amanda,

A smiling woman giving a thumbs up from the dental chair

Let me assure you your husband is not alone in his anxiety, both in being in the dental chair as well as financial considerations. That knowledge alone may help him not feel so isolated or “cowardly” about the dentist. Let me give you some ideas which may help your husband.

Solutions to Financial Anxiety & Dental Care

Those who’ve not gone to the dentist in many years often find they need more work than they can afford. Because of that, they feel hopeless. If they can’t afford to fix everything right away, what’s the point?

First, he needs to be convinced that going to the dentist is important. You didn’t mention what specific work he needed. For the moment, let’s assume it’s all just cavities, which is one of the least invasive procedures. If he does nothing except brush and floss diligently (which are important), the cavities will continue to grow. Eventually, they’ll reach the pulp of the tooth. This always comes with the accompanying gifts of throbbing pain and infection.

Now, instead of needing a much simpler and relatively pain-free procedure, such as a white filling, they now need the more expensive and invasive procedure of a root canal and dental crown. But, let’s assume from there, his anxiety about the dentist strengthens his resolve to ignore the pain, which by then would be quite significant. Infections spread. With dental care, taking an antibiotic isn’t a solution. It’s just a temporary stop-gap. The infection will return and continue until it is physically removed by the dentist. Our jaws are in close proximity to our heart and brain. If the infection spreads (and it will), it can become deadly quickly. Believe it or not, people are still dying from untreated cavities.

A dollar sign hatching out of an eggUnderstanding it’s important and being able to afford it are two different things. So what strategies will help him get that covered financially? The first step is to have his dentist list out all the work he needs in order of most urgent to least urgent. Then he can do his work in phases that work for him and can get the non-urgent work done in a timetable he can afford.

But what if he needs more urgent work than he has income to cover? You don’t want to leave those and have them turn into a dental emergency. Talk to the dentist about setting up a payment plan that enables him to get the work first and pay it out slowly. Some dentists say in their financial policies that payment is expected up front. That doesn’t mean in some circumstances they wouldn’t work with you. Always ask. Worst case scenario, they say no payment plans. No harm done. If that does happen, there’s still another option.

Care credit is a medical credit card. It works in a more customer friendly way than traditional credit card companies. First, you can set your terms. There are low and even no-interest payment plan options. Plus, if you get a windfall, there is no penalty for paying the card off early. It’s designed to help families get medical care they couldn’t otherwise afford.

Solutions to Dental Anxiety

Let’s say all the financial issues are covered but he’s still resistant to going back to the dentist, how can you get him through the door? There are dentist’s who specifically cater to fearful patients. Do an internet search. They’ll commonly use the following termsโ€”

The most helpful is usually when a dentist offers dental sedation, especially oral conscious sedation. This service relaxes the patient during the procedure. They’re still conscious and can respond to questions the dentist asks them, as well as move if they need to. However, they’re so relaxed most patients sleep throughout the procedure.

The benefits are they’re completely relaxed, the appointment can be pain-free, and they can get more work done per appointment. That last point is extraordinarily useful to patients who need a lot of work done. The downside is he’ll be so relaxed that he won’t be too steady on his feet. He’ll need someone to drive him to and from the appointment as well as stay with him throughout the day until they’re sure the sedation has worn off.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo cosmetic dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.