Posted by writeradmin
I have had a dental implant placed. After that happened, my gumline was higher than the rest of my gums. in fact, it is even above my other teeth. My dentist said we should put a temporary crown over it and said that it will cause my gum to drop. There have been a host of things happen during this procedure which has caused me to have doubts about what he is saying. I was right to have my doubts, I think, because the temporary crown is an obvious fake, plus the gumline hasn’t even fallen. Is this what my smile will look like with the permanent crown? I feel like I am getting a very poor deal for $6,000. I don’t feel like I will ever smile again with this type of tooth. Is there anyway to fix these things?
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
I am sorry that this happened to you. While it was a decent idea to try a temporary crown to see if the gumline will drop, I have serious doubts that it will. When a dental implant is placed and the gums are uneven, then it requires extra surgery to even them out. You may not need it though. In most cases, when people smile, you cannot see their gums. I would look in the mirror and smile. If you can’t see the gumline when you smile, then I would not worry about it. If you can see your gumline, then I would insist your dentist fix this and makes it to where your gumline is symmetrical.
As for the crown, I would also insist that your temporary crown looks the way that YOU want it to look before proceeding to the permanent crown. Then, I would take the extra precaution of ensuring that he place the permanent implant with a temporary try-in paste. Unless you love it, he should re-do it.
Most people don’t realize that neither cosmetic dentistry, nor implant dentistry is a recognized specialty. These are both very advanced procedures, and each of them requires a significant amount of post-doctoral training. The best dentists take that seriously and continually get additional training in order to be at the forefront of their field. For dental implants, which if done incorrectly, can cause serious repercussions, including damage to your jaw and nerve endings, I recommend seeing someone who is a fellow with the International Congress of Oral Implantologists (ICOI). These dentists will have significant implant training and experience with a high success rate.
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.