A little over a year ago, I had four dental implants placed after a car accident left me with a lot of lost teeth. Since then, the crowns have broken or fallen off and the implants themselves are there but I don’t know how healthy or secure they are. I tried calling the office for quite a few weeks and they kept giving me the run around. Now I have discovered this dentist has left the country and no one can reach him. At first, I was worried about him, like maybe something happened to him on vacation, but it turns out he literally skipped the country. He’s emptied the practice account and they are closing the doors. What do I do now?
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
I am sorry this happened to you. First, the accident and then an unethical dentist. In all honesty, the only thing you can do now, is to have someone who is skilled with dental implants to look at your case and see how stable the implants are and what went wrong with the dental crowns. Hopefully, the implants themselves are fine and the dentist who did your case just did not bond them on properly. Then, you will only have to replace the crowns. If it does turn out that your implants are poorly placed and at risk, you will have to replace them. Unfortunately, that will also mean getting one additional procedure, known as bone grafting, so that you will again have enough bone structure to retain your new dental implants.
There is an upside to these tragic circumstances. First, you can make any changes you want. If there was something you didn’t like about the earlier results, now is your chance to completely remake your smile. Make it gorgeous. Another opportunity is for you to whiten your teeth. If you decide to do that, do it before your new crowns are made. Whatever color they are fashioned with is permanent.
A second upside is that I am willing to bet that most dentists who hear the series of events that happened to you will be more willing to work with you on paying this out instead of having to pay up front, which is the typical requirement.
Again, I am sorry this happened to you. Hopefully, this next dentist will be just what you need!
This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.