New white crown - help please!

smiley-me

I had a white crown fitted today on a lower molar (in a 10min NHS appointment...) but the bite was wrong & my dentist ended up having to file away so much of the crown that a 5mm square patch of the dark metal beneath the porcelain is now showing. I don't like it - I wanted a white tooth! Am I within my rights to ask for it to be redone/remade or is there anything which can be 'painted' on to cover up the awful black patch? The dentist explained it away by saying that it was a smaller area than the filling in the tooth behind it, but looking at it in the mirror, it is so much darker than my filling & it's really noticeable (to me at least).

Toothsmith

This is an aesthetic problem rather than a functional one.

To be honest, I'm surprised you have a dentist who is willing to do white crowns on back teeth. The standard NHS one is a non-precious metal shiny silver coloured one.

Of course, in any normal world, how you feel about the look of a tooth should be just as important as anything else. But the world of NHS dentistry is a wierd and fabulous one. (Fabulous as in the proper definition of the word - like a fable).

You could try complaining about the look. A dentist who is willing to do a white crown for an NHS patient might actually listen.

If he refuses though, you've very little chance of taking it any further unless something is functionally wrong with the crown.

smiley-me

Thanks for your reply.

I was given the option of white or gold & was told that gold would last longer - no shiny silver coloured one was mentioned!

Functionally I feel that the bite is still too high yet I'm concerned that to shave any more off will increase the black patch. Will this weaken the crown or is it purely aesthetic?

smiley-me

Well, that lasted well. It fractured.

I went back today to have new impressions taken & for a temporary crown to be fitted. Whilst drilling out the fractured crown, the drill slipped & cut my gum. I now have a sizeable cut, filled with tooth & metal grit, slowly un-numbing... I can't wait to go back in 2 weeks to have the shiny new crown fitted. Yippee!

I'm starting to understand why some people don't like going to the dentist...

Joking aside, I don't want to go back to him as he's shown himself to be less than competent on two occasions. When I feel stronger I think I'll phone & see if there's someone else who can continue the work for me. I'm not a very smiley-me right now.

Toothsmith

I would get the teatment completed before you make too many waves.

alison999

smiley-me wrote: »

Well, that lasted well. It fractured.

I went back today to have new impressions taken & for a temporary crown to be fitted. Whilst drilling out the fractured crown, the drill slipped & cut my gum. I now have a sizeable cut, filled with tooth & metal grit, slowly un-numbing... I can't wait to go back in 2 weeks to have the shiny new crown fitted. Yippee!

I'm starting to understand why some people don't like going to the dentist...

Joking aside, I don't want to go back to him as he's shown himself to be less than competent on two occasions. When I feel stronger I think I'll phone & see if there's someone else who can continue the work for me. I'm not a very smiley-me right now.

ever thought it may have been the technician that made your crown "wrong" rather than the dentist?

aliasojo

Even if it was the technician at fault, surely the dentist is ultimately responsible and should have sent the crown back if it wasn't the right shape/size/whatever?

Every profession will have it's bumbling practitioners as well as it's experts.

I have no idea which your dentist is, lol....but if you dont feel happy then say so.

I have avoided 'saying so' to my dentist as I'm not one for rocking the boat even although I really think I should. I've had more problems since seeing him than I ever had in the past. Could well be coincidence but my gut feeling is that it's not.

Last time he didn't want to numb my gum even although I made it clear that the previous time he said that it wouldn't be sore and it was.

Sure as eggs are eggs, I nearly went through the roof and my head jerked with the shooting pain and his drill narrowly avoided the roof of my mouth. I dont trust him, I dont think he's as good as he should be/could be and yet still I wimp out of doing anything about changing. :rolleyes:

Dentists are skilled professionals but they are not all equal. Hope it gets sorted out ok for you.

aliasojo

aka wimp of the year.

alison999

^ i dont understand why you are sticking with a dentist you are so unhappy about

aliasojo

2 main reasons really.......wary of picking a new one and having to travel miles every time I need treatment.

I sometimes feel it's devil or the deep, iyswim.

smiley-me

alison999 wrote: »

ever thought it may have been the technician that made your crown "wrong" rather than the dentist?

He did blame the technician yesterday & said that hopefully he'll make a better job of the next one, but as aliasojo said, my dentist should've picked up on the fact that it was ill-fitting (he had the plaster mold of my teeth to fit it into) & he should've offered to get it remade instead of shoving it in unsuccessfully.

I too don't want to rock the boat as I don't know which other practice nearby to go to instead (although I've now had one recommendation from a friend). My children visit the same dentist as me & I don't trust him not to 'slip' again. Hurting me is one thing, but my babies is another...

I'm hoping to speak to my dentist tomorrow (if I'm feeling brave) & ask if another dentist in the practice will complete the work for me.

alison999

smiley-me wrote: »

ask if another dentist in the practice will complete the work for me.

it is VERY UNLIKELY that another dentist will complete the work, with the way nhs claims are done, i dont see how they would split it so both dentists get paid. usually if patients swop where i work, its when all outstanding work has been completed