Archives for August 2023

Buying Dental Implant Parts Online

Posted on August 31, 2023 by writeradmin.

I have snap on dentures and have recently hit a serious rough patch financially. I’m 53 years old and was laid off. It is challenging to find someone to hire a person at my age. In the meantime, I need new locater caps for my implant dentures. My dentist charges $25 for one. I noticed online I can get a set of 4 for $20. This is much more doable for me, however they only sell to dentists. Is there any way for me to get these? Money is so tight that I’m worried in a couple of months I won’t even be able to buy food.

Chris

Dear Chris,

Diagram of an affordable dental implant, which is a snap-on denture hovering above two dental implants in the lower anterior gums and bone.

Snap-on dentures

While I understand that dentists have overhead and, as a result of that, need to mark up the costs on some items. This particular item is such a small profit that I can’t imagine he would not be willing to work with you. Most dentists are compassionate and want to help people. This is why they went into their field. I would start by simply talking to your dentist. Tell him about your situation. My guess is he would be willing to sell them to you at cost. If he is not, you still have options.

Your second option would be to just call around to other dental clinics. It is usually the staff that orders these things with the dentists information, not the dentist himself. Tell them the problem and see if they’d be willing to add one for you to the order.

If that doesn’t work, then I noticed that eBay has these for sale from overseas sellers. You do not have to be a dentist to purchase them. The only downside to this is you need to know all the information on the technical aspects to get them. For instance, what strength and resistance is needed.

What are Sanp-on Dentures?

For those who are like, “What the heck are snap on dentures?” let me help you out. These are for patients who can’t afford a full grouping of dental implants in order to get implant overdentures, but want to keep their dentures secure while preserving at least a little bit of their bone. It works with two dental implants and then your denture is snapped onto the fixtures, holding them in place.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.

Full Mouth Reconstruction Going Badly

Posted on August 21, 2023 by writeradmin.

I needed a full-mouth reconstruction because of how bad my smile looked. My dentist provided crowns on all my teeth, with the exception of one tooth which he extracted and placed a dental implant. When he did the temporaries for the crowns, everything seemed fine to me. However, now that the permanent ones are in things are off. Some of my teeth are not lining up properly. Because of this, it hurts when I eat. When I spoke to my dentist he said he met all the checkpoints and just to give it time. I went to get a second opinion and the other dentist said, “Oh, Dr. —- [name withdrawn] is a great dentist.” I got the feeling that he didn’t want to disagree with this dentist because they must know each other. In the meantime, I am stuck with this bite that is killing me. Is there any advice you can give me?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

woman holding her her jaw in pain

I want to make sure I understand that your dentist gave you a full mouth reconstruction simply for cosmetic reasons. Is that right? If so, that is a massive overtreatment. A smile makeover is typically done with porcelain veneers and even then you would not put them on each and every tooth. You would only place them on the teeth that are visible when you smile. Generally, that is the eight to ten upper teeth, depending on the smile.

A full mouth reconstruction is for much more serious conditions and removes a LOT of your tooth structure. A couple of reasons for a reconstruction would be serious TMJ Disorder which does not respond to less invasive treatments; or to cover teeth that are worn down to nubs by bruxism (teeth grinding). Without a clinical reason for crowning all your teeth I would say this was unnecessary. Now, there may have been a good reason that just didn’t get mentioned because it was not relevant to your question. I just wanted to make sure.

Not that it is funny, but I chuckled a little at your dentist’s comment that he met all the checkpoints and you just need to get used to it. That is often dental speak for, “I want you to leave me alone. This is hard and I don’t know how to fix it.” Plus, I’m pretty sure any dentist should consider “My patient is not in pain” as a checkpoint. Just saying…

Occlusion, the term for how your teeth meet together, is an advanced subject. It takes post-doctoral training to understand this properly. It is very possible that your dentist does not have enough training in this area.

Getting a Real Second Opinion

I’m not surprised you didn’t have much luck with your second opinion. One of the cardinal rules in getting an unbiased second opinion is to not tell them who your dentist is. Just ask them about the way the crowns are meeting together and explain you’re in pain. If they ask before giving you their diagnosis, tell them you want an unbiased opinion so don’t want to tell them. They should understand that. When you get that second opinion, make sure you go to a dentist with the training you need. Unfortunately, there is not a recognized specialty in this type of work so you will just need to look for the right training. Two great post-doctoral institutes that instruct on TMJ and occlusion are the Dawson Academy and the Pankey Institute. Any dentist who has studied there, will be able to give you a truly educated diagnosis.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.

An Absolute Dental Bonding Disaster

Posted on August 10, 2023 by writeradmin.

I had dental bonding done a few years ago. They’ve picked up some stains and I went to my new dentist to have it replaced. The results were and absolute disaster. Here is just some of what is wrong with this “repair”:

The color doesn’t match the rest of the teeth.
The right tooth is longer than the left tooth
The left tooth is uneven and dips up in the middle
There is now a gap between my teeth that wasn’t there before

I asked her to fix these things. She didn’t argue about fixing things where the teeth weren’t even the same size, thankfully. However, with the color difference, she said that natural teeth have different colors and that the gap is almost impossible to not get when you do dental bonding. Next, she told me to give it a week and if I’m still unhappy we can talk about what I am still unsatisfied with. I went in to deal with discoloration and ended up with Frankenteeth. Do you think I should go through with this and give her another chance or should I just start over with someone else?

Mary

Dear Mary,

before and after dental bonding

I’m glad you wrote. While you are welcome to try and give this dentist another go at it, I would not hold your breath that this is going to turn out any better the second time. One of the problems you are facing here is that cosmetic dentistry is not a recognized specialty. As a result, any general dentist can “do” cosmetic dentistry. While dental schools will go over some basic technique, the aesthetics of the results are not judged or even required.

On top of that, dental bonding is one of the most difficult of the cosmetic procedures because it has to be done freehand. It also requires the dentist to keep on hand a variety of different texture, colors, and translucencies. This is expensive, especially if they do not do a lot of cosmetic work.

There is also a difference in attitude between a true cosmetic dentist and what your dentist offered up. A cosmetic dentist would never be satisfied if you were not. Those dentists who say, “give it some time,” are actually hoping you’ll give up.

If you do let this dentist try again, make sure they understand that if it isn’t right this time, you will want a refund so you can get it done somewhere else. If it comes to that, my suggestion is for you to seek an AACD accredited dentist. These are the top cosmetic dentists in the country and will certainly be able to give you the results you want.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.