Bonding vs Crowns/big mistake

[Orange24]

So I chipped half of my tooth when I was little... I was like 8.

I am 18, and a dentist suggested me Dental crowns for it. I asked for bonding, but he said it was too big of a lose to do bonding. Is he right?

So my dentist did crowns and I just feel so guilty. Like I think I could've done bonding, bonding, then crowns at the end of my life.
But me being stupid, went with crowns and it is now too late. My parents are jabbing at me for it because it's expensive and that bonding is better since I am 18. After reading countless articles, I feel like I made the stupidest mistake in life, which is choosing crowns over bonding and then going to a dentist that my parents recommended.
Idk... i feel like this dentist ripped me off. He shaved both my tooth down... which they did not need. Only 1 needed to be fixed. again, I said nothing. I am just so heartbroken. I don't think I can get over it...

 

[svor1988]

I'm really sorry. I was similarly taken advantage of right after I turned 18 and was able to make such decisions on my own... Whenever they want high dollar work done, you should go to 1-2 other dentists and get quotes from them, calling first for a rough quote before setting up an inspection. This will cost a little, but it will either reassure you that this is either (1) indeed the right course of action or, (2) not appropriate.

I don't know the details of your situation, or how much of your tooth was chipped off.

The truth is that the human tooth is a remarkable structure which is unrivaled by anything currently man-made. Driven by greed, some dentists do not put your best interests above all else in their services to you. They may omit information would would help you make the best decision for you. Make sure your friends and family do not make the same mistake. Never return to that dentist, and leave a review on Yelp and say "I do not feel my best interests were put above all else." Other people should know exactly what that means.

I would strongly advise against elaborating with any other details in a public review as you are young and may make a statement that could be untrue and thus defamatory (and public untrue statements can be bad for you). Writing a review on Google is no good as they can hide any negative reviews from the public... Yelp does not allow the suppression of negative reviews.

Though first, I would call this dentist, and let him know your feelings and give him a chance to defend himself.

Since I'm here and thinking about it, a parallel exists in the financial world. There exists professionals with titles of 'financial advisor' and 'fiduciary'. The fiduciary is expected to manage the assets for the benefit of the other person rather than for his or her own profit, and cannot benefit personally from their management of assets. While a financial advisor is not held to the same high legal standard, and can use your money in sub-optimal ways to make them money while you make less than you could have. I'm curious if medical professionals are held to a similar high legal standard in the U.S.A...

 

[svor1988]

Oh, I see your other posts and imagery now: https://www.dentistry-forums.com/threads/crowns-or-bonding.22560/

I'm sorry you didn't get any help on here then.

If the dentin was exposed then I'd advise some sort of treatment. If no dentin was exposed I'd personally not gotten any treatment and just take good care of it (with fluoride products and all):

• Dentin has a critical pH of 6.7.
• Natural enamel (Hydroxylapatite) has a critical pH of 5.5.
• Fluoride treated enamel (Fluorapatite) has a critical pH of 4.5.
• Lactic acid has a pH of 3.51.
• Sugar & starch in saliva is digested in the mouth by naturally occurring bacteria, and lactic acid is a byproduct of that metabolism found in 4-5 hours.
• Lactic acid is primarily what causes cavities.

Dentin is very vulnerable to acids, and its purpose is structural integrity of the tooth. So if the dentin was exposed, it would be in your best interest to have it treated somehow.

Survival of posterior crowns is lower than for those on anterior teeth (e.g., 84.4% vs. 94.5% for Empress and 90.4% vs. 94.5% for InCeram) (Pjertursson et al., 2007): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170166/

Posterior teeth are the molars & premolars, anterior teeth are your incisors & canines.

Temporary tooth eruption isn't that expensive of an issue in my opinion... it should be treated as cementum has pH of 6.0 to 6.7 (cementum is exposed due to the eruption). Can be treated by wearing a mouth guard at night. Though uncomfortable, they are inexpensive and can be found at grocery stores in the pharmacy area.

 

[svor1988]

Ohhhhh I just noticed another issue looking at your xray, that molar being erupted due to 2 factors:

1. Lack of opposition.
2. The adjacent wisdom tooth impacting it.

I believe the mouth-guard treatment will best fix this issue. Your wisdom tooth on the bottom should push forward eventually to fill that space... but your erupted tooth needs to be pushed back into place first by the mouth guard. It is possible that the wisdom tooth will not sheer correctly against the adjacent molar, but I don't expect that outcome if you use the mouth-guard every night. The cheapest option would be to do mouth-guard treatment first by yourself, and if this does not work then seek professional assistance.

This is what my intuition tells me. Many dentists will try to convince you to take out your wisdom teeth even if medically unnecessary because of the high insurance payout for each of them. My advice is to keep them, as they may come in useful later in life as you loose other teeth- molars will naturally push forward to fill any gaps.

So... now that I think about it, the crown is far better than having dentin exposed. But you're right, bonding may have been a better long term solution in your best interests. A crown could have always been made later if the bonding treatments repeatedly failed.