Strange Crown Experience

[TheOsprey]

I had a crown installed/placed a while back by my dentist and I noticed that it was very sensitive near the base.

Whenever I floss it is excruciating.

On a subsequent visit the woman who cleans my teeth was shocked to find what she said was all the enamel had been removed.

She then confronted the dentist and said, "It's like a big filling."

The person who molded it also remarked that "all your enamel was removed."

On earlier visits when I mentioned to the dentist that a chipped tooth was causing me pain he nonchalantly dismissed it.

When I mentioned it again he said rather exasperatingly, "We'll have to do another crown."

I get the sneaking suspicion that he doesn't like what my insurance pays for crowns.

I have Delta Dental of Washington.

I live in Texas but my employer is based in Washington.

Could my dentist have intentionally done this to be painful?

Was it cheaper for him to do a crown like this?

At the moment he's still my dentist and actually very highly rated but I don't think I want him back in my mouth.

Is this malpractice?

 

[svor1988]

Try contacting your insurance company for help navigating your concerns, they should have a customer service line.

An a distantly related experience, as a patient when a mold of my mouth were done, they had a comedy showing on the TV. I'd been there dozens of times and only that time the TV was on. Guess what, they had to redo the mold 4x because I kept laughing. Cha-chang! Insurance company wouldn't know any better.


> At the moment he's still my dentist and actually very highly rated

Ratings online (other than yelp) are garbage. Businesses remove negative reviews from google. I've seen sex offender, fraudulent, and other medical professionals with criminal history all with 4.8+ ratings that pop up on a google search (e.g. healthgrades.com ratings)... seems like BS to me.


> but I don't think I want him back in my mouth.

Follow your gut feeling... your ancestors survived well enough with it... best of luck to you.


> Is this malpractice?

I don't know. Consider consulting with a 2nd dentist for $25, and voicing your concerns with the placing dentist's secretary. If you really did observe wrong doing, then file a complaint with your state's medical board, leave an non-libelous review on yelp, and move on to someone else. A court case may very time consuming and difficult.

Now, lets try to make the best of your present situation:

By saying the enamel was removed, makes me believe a large area of dentin is visible below the crown and above the gumline, right? Try sampling toothpaste products for sensitive teeth- ones without SLS for example. Steer clear of mouthwashes until you learn which ones have a pH above 5.5 (the critical pH of cementum and dentin). Don't keep the mouthwash in your mouth longer than the directions say to.​