I am from Romania and had a crooked later incisor as I was growing up. My mother took me to dentist who took out the tooth and eventually gave me a dental bridge. It looked awful. It whiteness was much more than my other teeth and it was bigger. To me, it looked like an alien creature growing out of my mouth. Now I am in United States as an adult and thought they will do it right. I went to my dentist and he redid it. While it is better, it is still too big and too white for my other teeth. Then, it fell off a few times. He always glued it back on but it has me worried constantly. He said my crooked teeth were the problem, so I went to a braces doctor. He fixed it the crooked teeth. Now, for the worst part. He said my bridge looked weird with the rest of my teeth and offered to shave it smaller. I thought that would be okay and he’d know what he was doing but when he finished, I see all the metal coming through. Should he pay to help me fix this? He said I needed another one anyway, but also I wasn’t planning to get one for a while.
Alina N.
Dear Alina,
I am sorry this happened to you. As you have learned not every dentist in the United States has the cosmetic skill and artistry to do something beautifully. You happened on one of those, though there are many. To make matters even worse, your dentist didn’t even have the skill to keep your bridge bonded in. Even if your bite was off, with proper placement and bonding technique, the bridge should have stayed in.
To get this fixed, you will need an expert cosmetic dentist. I would look for an AACD Accredited Dentist. These are the top cosmetic dentist in the country. It would be worth it to you even if you had to drive to a nearby city or state. He or she can make you a dental bridge that will match your smile exactly.
As to your orthodontist, yes, he should contribute to this cost. While it is true that you needed another one, he damaged the current one far beyond what is acceptable even for someone who doesn’t do cosmetic work. Plus, you weren’t planning on getting another one for some time. Maybe a fair compromise would be for him to pay half.
This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.