On Thurs July 11 I was having two contiguous crowns replaced, the two lower molars, the farthest back.
As they were fitting the temporaries, there was a lot of interference when I bit, and I remembered that I "always" have a lot of problems with interference. I.e., they always have to spend a huge amount of time removing material due to interference. Twice I've been sent home because they did not believe me, and then I had to go back to have more material removed.
So I told this to the assistant and she said it would be fine because I had bitten down all the way. I told her "no I hadn't" because she didn't tell me to do that. She just pressed my jaw together the way she wanted. She remarked that maybe I have a cross bite.
They were unable to remove enough material from the temporaries for me to be able to chew comfortably. Dentist said that if he removed more, the temporaries could break.
Repeatedly through all the procedure all this, I asked, Are you sure that the molds for the permanent crowns will be OK? And they (assistant and dentist) repeatedly told me Yes.
When I called the next day, to let them know that I couldn't chew properly, they said "come in today" and they will make a new mold and new temporaries so that I could chew. I couldn't come then and scheduled for Monday. Then on Monday I called to cancel, because I was just too busy to get away, that I'd found a way to chew adequately that would suffice and could handle it til getting my permanents in just a few days (Thurs July 18).
On Wed July 17, the day before the appt for the permanents, they called and said they had to reschedule til Thurs July 25 because the lab wasn't done with the the permanent crowns.
Then they called me on Tuesday July 23 and said that the lab said that the crowns wouldn't be ready until Tuesday August 6. They could not say why the additional delay. They asked me if I'd like to come in again to remove more material from the temporaries. I felt as though something fishy was up, and said I'd "call them back on that".
It is not easy for me to get away from work. I am working 14 hour days right now and am intensely busy. I have almost no income, am on food stamps, and must complete my new website in order to get my income flowing again. It's a longish drive to the dentist. So I do not want to drive in simply to fix the temporaries.
However, if they told me that they needed a new mold for the permanents, of course I'd find a way to go in. Because of course I want them to work well.
Is it reasonable to suppose that what normally takes a lab one week to do was delayed first for ONE week and then for an additional TWO weeks, all due to some unnamed issue with the lab?
Is it possible that the dental office is not being straight with me? That the lab is not holding them up? That they are trying to get me to come back for a new mold for the permanent crowns, but do not want to admit that they need me to do that? Are they worried about this because of the fact that I asked them repeatedly on July 11 whether the permanent molds needed to be redone, since clearly the temporaries would not working?
If it's possible that the lab could have some unnamed delay, then I can relax. Otherwise I feel intensely uncomfortable with the integrity of this dentist office. If they made a mistake with the way they took the molds, they should admit it and ask me to come in to fix it. I would do that.
The other piece of this story is that I am paying for this out of pocket. When I appeared for my July 11 appt, they told me that the Careington dental discount plan that they had recommended and given me a quote on DID NOT COVER THIS TREATMENT. But they were very nice about it. They were able to confirm that I received a written bid for them (for about $1850) for the treatment under the Careington plan, and they honored the bid. So they ate about $600. All very honorable.
So I am very perplexed. Would really appreciate feedback.
As they were fitting the temporaries, there was a lot of interference when I bit, and I remembered that I "always" have a lot of problems with interference. I.e., they always have to spend a huge amount of time removing material due to interference. Twice I've been sent home because they did not believe me, and then I had to go back to have more material removed.
So I told this to the assistant and she said it would be fine because I had bitten down all the way. I told her "no I hadn't" because she didn't tell me to do that. She just pressed my jaw together the way she wanted. She remarked that maybe I have a cross bite.
They were unable to remove enough material from the temporaries for me to be able to chew comfortably. Dentist said that if he removed more, the temporaries could break.
Repeatedly through all the procedure all this, I asked, Are you sure that the molds for the permanent crowns will be OK? And they (assistant and dentist) repeatedly told me Yes.
When I called the next day, to let them know that I couldn't chew properly, they said "come in today" and they will make a new mold and new temporaries so that I could chew. I couldn't come then and scheduled for Monday. Then on Monday I called to cancel, because I was just too busy to get away, that I'd found a way to chew adequately that would suffice and could handle it til getting my permanents in just a few days (Thurs July 18).
On Wed July 17, the day before the appt for the permanents, they called and said they had to reschedule til Thurs July 25 because the lab wasn't done with the the permanent crowns.
Then they called me on Tuesday July 23 and said that the lab said that the crowns wouldn't be ready until Tuesday August 6. They could not say why the additional delay. They asked me if I'd like to come in again to remove more material from the temporaries. I felt as though something fishy was up, and said I'd "call them back on that".
It is not easy for me to get away from work. I am working 14 hour days right now and am intensely busy. I have almost no income, am on food stamps, and must complete my new website in order to get my income flowing again. It's a longish drive to the dentist. So I do not want to drive in simply to fix the temporaries.
However, if they told me that they needed a new mold for the permanents, of course I'd find a way to go in. Because of course I want them to work well.
Is it reasonable to suppose that what normally takes a lab one week to do was delayed first for ONE week and then for an additional TWO weeks, all due to some unnamed issue with the lab?
Is it possible that the dental office is not being straight with me? That the lab is not holding them up? That they are trying to get me to come back for a new mold for the permanent crowns, but do not want to admit that they need me to do that? Are they worried about this because of the fact that I asked them repeatedly on July 11 whether the permanent molds needed to be redone, since clearly the temporaries would not working?
If it's possible that the lab could have some unnamed delay, then I can relax. Otherwise I feel intensely uncomfortable with the integrity of this dentist office. If they made a mistake with the way they took the molds, they should admit it and ask me to come in to fix it. I would do that.
The other piece of this story is that I am paying for this out of pocket. When I appeared for my July 11 appt, they told me that the Careington dental discount plan that they had recommended and given me a quote on DID NOT COVER THIS TREATMENT. But they were very nice about it. They were able to confirm that I received a written bid for them (for about $1850) for the treatment under the Careington plan, and they honored the bid. So they ate about $600. All very honorable.
So I am very perplexed. Would really appreciate feedback.