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Dental Health (Expert Forum)
Dental woes
Answered by
Matthew Baron, D.M.D. - Dental
Questions in the Dental Health forum are answered by Dr. Jerome Tsang and Dr. Jerome Bogin. Topics covered include bridges, cavities, crowns, and x-rays.
Dental woes
by MinnieM, Nov 26, 2005 12:00AM
I have religiously seen DDS for dental care. Two past DDS have retired and I have been here/there for this/that. I beleive I had shoddy work in the past 2 years. This DDS's fillings have fallen out. He had to replace them twice. Crowns left spaces between teeth allowing food stuck in there. Saw new DDS and he did full mouth x-rays and told to have my upper teeth pulled and have implants. I saw the film where former DDS filled teeth and placed crowns and it was all black (decay) I was told decay under the crown and gums was hopeless to do anything to save these teeth but extract and implants. I saw a Protodontist. He wanted 30,000.00 and gave me a form for low interest payment plan. I freaked out and had a "heart event" and ended in hospital for 3 days. Am now on Plavix for stent placement. Saw another DDS who said to have 4 and 5 pulled and get someone to take the crown off #3 to look under there and have root canals on 6 and 7 as they were quite salvagable. Had RC on 6 last week. Found an oral surgeon to pull 4 and 5 next week. The shoddy former DDS also did a filling in tooth #25 and in 2 months time that tooth completely broke off and I look like I should be in the comics. I will have oral surgeon extract the remnants of 25. Since I am basically on my own to get my teeth in "working order" and shy of "poor dentistry" & not wanting another "heart event", can you tell me about implants. Do they work better on the top than the bottom? Can they put implants in where decay was? Do they do implants at the same time they extract teeth or wait later to heal? Thanks for help.
Doctor's Answer
by Matthew Baron, D.M.D., Nov 26, 2005 12:00AM
, Nov 26, 2005 12:00AM
First off, you shouldn't be on your own, you should find a dentist whom you trust and is reputable. The restoring dentist will come up with a comprehensive treatment plan so that you are not just "patching" things up. For the most part, if a tooth is salvagable, it is best to try and save it. That being said, implants are an excellent option to replace missing teeth. They work well on both the top and the bottom, depending on the quality and quantity of bone. Implants can be placed where you had a decayed tooth. If there is no infection, implants can be placed at the same time the teeth are extracted depending on the sight and what the operating surgeon deems feesable. Otherwise, the tooth is extracted and the sight is grafted or allowed to heal and the implant is placed at a later date. I hope I answered all your questions. Good luck.
Thank You for the information on the Implants. This helps.