Questions about Dental crowns

Lulu_F

Hi, I'm new to this forum and can't find out how to start a new thread... I'm hoping for some advice on my crown.

My dentist changed hands a couple of years ago and seems to have steadily gone downhill. Last year, in November, I had a white filling taken out on the advice of my new dentist, who then told me I would need root canal and carried it out, all in one visit. He then crowned it and tried to charge me an obscene amount of money (£800 or something), which I refused to pay as he hadn't given me an option to have an NHS crown done, despite my being and NHS patient. We agreed on £350 in the end, the cost of the root canal.

My white crown broke in February, I threatened to go to the dental complaints commission and they fixed it free of charge. I wasn't entirely happy with the replacement, it felt rough, somehow. I consoled myself with the thought of moving on to another, ethical dentist. Now, the same crown has just (today) broken again, clean in half.

Can I go elsewhere to have it fixed? On previous occasions other Brighton dentists wouldn't take me on with a broken crown; they told me the original dentist had to fix it. But I believe he is a sham, and now the crown has broken for the second time in a year I don't want to go back to him to do another shoddy job. Then again, I don't really want to pay for a replacement for work that was questionable in the first place. If I do have to go back to the same dentist, am I within my rights to ask him to do it for free?

Thanks for any help you can give me, Lucy

Toothsmith

I would find a dentist you're happy with, get something temporary sorted out, and get an estimate for the cost of replacement, then send that to the old dentists explaining that you've given him a chance to fix it, but would now rather he just paid for it to be fixed elsewhereas you've lost confidence in him.

Toothsmith

Oh - and the 'new thread' button is on the main Health and Beauty index page, just above and on the left of the list of all the threads.

doshunta

Just been to the dentist for a couple of fillings and to have him check on a loose front porcelain crown I had done 16 months ago by the NHS. It came loose after biting on something that looked like a stone in my bag of chips!
:eek:

I explained that I'm going away on holiday at Xmas and concerned the thing would come off. He then pulled at it with pliers and when it didn't come out quickly patched it round the edges with some kind of filler, saying that it's obviously not going to drop out. Problem is two days later and the tooth is now rattling around worse than ever since him pulling on it.

I think that the post is firm, but the porcelain is seperating from it...feels that way. I've been on e-bay looking at dental cement to possibly take with me on holiday should it come off.

Questions:
1. Is the cement sensible, and if so what one should I go for? (some are mixed and some need mixing?)
2. If a new crown is needed, do they need to pull out the post from the root canal?
3. If so, do I then need more root canal work?

This dentist immediately started mentioning implants which I know are very expensive and I want to avoid this if possible. Can I not just have another posted crown? If I can, what type is best value for my money? (I have to say the NHS crown I've had doesn't match or fit perfectly and I had lots of folks say how nice my teeth were before I had this one knocked out at karate)
Thanks in advance for any advice!:beer:

coldstreamalways

When patients come to see me with "loose crowns" I never want to yank them out because sometimes you can do more damage to the tooth by forcing off a crown that isn't quite loose enough if that makes sense?

Temporary cement is a good idea, you can get it from boots.

Sometimes it's a good idea to take the post out, sometimes it's a good idea to leave well alone. A lot of it depends on the quality of the root canal treatment and if any infection is visible around the apex of the root.

You can't put a "roof on a burning house" so it's important to make sure the foundations are strong before putting on a shiny new crown!

HTH

alison999

Maybe try and get a appointment with your dentist see what he says again ask him about your options, it maybe that another post crown wont work which might be why hes mentioning implants.

you can get a kit from boots for about £10. Whatever you do, DONT use superglue!

o2brich

I had a temporary crown put on a tooth just before Christmas and yesterday a piece of it on the back of the tooth has broken off. I'm getting no pain from it at all; it just feels a bit jagged and rough. My dentist does not open again until the 5th January and although there is a mobile number provided for dental emergencies, I didn't consider this to be an emergency at all and was just going to wait until the surgery re-opens. My next appointment is on 8th January anyway.

However (rightly or wrongly!) I googled broken temporary crown and the advice on there made me think again as to whether I needed to contact the dentist before his surgery reopens. They were mentioning the tooth moving, getting infected etc etc and scared me silly.

I suppose I'm just asking whether anyone else has left a tooth for a week or so with a broken temporary crown on it and if so was there any detrimental effect to the tooth. What happens if the whole of the temporary crown now falls off - would that be considered an emergency. My feeling is that it wouldn't unless there is pain. Would any of the dentists on here expect to be contacted when their surgeries are closed for holiday period just for a broken temporary crown.

I really don't want to bother the dentist during his Christmas holidays if I don't have to - for his sake and mine!!!!

irishjohn

As long as you clean it properly it should be ok - maybe you could get one of the dental emergency kits from Boots and use the temporary filling stuff to cover up and soften the rough bit to keep things comfortable until the 8th

nickyhutch

Why don't you just ring and talk to them about it? They know best, don't they?

Toothsmith

nickyhutch wrote: »

Why don't you just ring and talk to them about it? They know best, don't they?

^^^^^^^^ What she said ^^^^^^^^^^^

Ring the emergency number and talk to someone about it.