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,
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.