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I’ve gotten myself into a situation and now I’m having second thoughts. I have been having trouble keeping all of my teeth healthy. I have three that need dental crowns already. My dentist suggested that I have bad teeth and we should just crown all of them to save time. I don’t feel all that comfortable with this idea but he’s spent a lot of time with me showing me what they would look like and how I’d have a much prettier smile as a result. I don’t know if this uncomfortable feeling is legitimate or if it my normal dental anxiety making me want to run.
Olivia
Dear Olivia,
I’m glad you wrote. While you may have dental anxiety, which I can help you with in a moment, you also have good instincts. Run from this dentist. Seriously. He wants to crown all your teeth to save time?? Whose time? What he is talking about doing is known as a full mouth reconstruction. It can cost upwards of $30,000+ and is one of the mose advanced procedures in dentistry. Typically, it is only used as a last resort for extreme cases of TMJ Disorder. He’s tossing it around because you needed a few crowns and he thinks it would make your smile prettier. Nope. I have alarm bells ringing everywhere. This type of procedure has to be done very carefully and step by step in order to make sure correct occlussion is maintained throughout. Otherwise you could end up with a lifetime of jawpain.
Find a different dentist who is willing to work to save your teeth if they need the work. As to your smile being prettier, were you unhappy with your smile’s appearance before he brought that up? Generally, when it comes to cosmetic work, it is the patient who suggests they want to improve the appearance of their smile, not the dentist. That is a second thing that has me suspicious.
Dealing with Dental Anxiety
You mentioned dental anxiety. When you go to get the three dental crowns you actually need done, I would like to suggest that you use a sedation dentist. They can give you a medication that will completely relax you. In fact, you are more likely to sleep through the procedure than anything else.
Previously anxious patients have found that using something like nitrous oxide or oral conscious sedation (which is much stronger) completely changes their lives and they no longer fear the dentist.
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.