I was so excited to finally get the crown for a dental implant on my front tooth. To my disappointment, once it was all said and done, I was really not happy about the final color of it. When I went back to the dentist, he tried to convince me that it was fine and it looked OK. He asked me to think it over but encouraged me that I’d get used to it.

I didn’t feel like getting used to it, especially after I’ve been waiting so long for this all to be done. So, he wasn’t very happy when I came back in and requested he fix the color. He agreed to do it and this time around, the color is even worse. It looks much darker than my other teeth. Each time he referred me to the lab for the color assessment and the dentist didn’t double check things either time before he bonded it in place.

I am feeling quite frustrated at this point and I don’t want to go back into the same dentist with the same complaint. Either he just doesn’t care, or he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I dealt with some pain the last time he reattached it and am now starting to wonder if he messed something up with the surgical post for the dental implant. I don’t even want to chew on it because it is quite sensitive. Do I have any options at this point to get the implant looked at or the color corrected again? Or do I need to start completely over at this point? The implant was pretty expensive so I am wondering what my options are now.

Please let me know your thoughts.

-Tania in North Carolina

Tania,

Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, your case is sounding like an example of the variation and lack of understanding when it comes to the aesthetics with dentistry. Not every dentist has the necessary training or expertise to do beautiful restorations. In fact, less than two percent of dentists would fall into the category of an excellent cosmetic dentist. Dentists are trained in dental school from a functional mindset, they learn how to fix a certain problem. Not every dentist has the passion to create beautiful dentistry. And for a front tooth crown, you want it to look lifelike and natural.

From that sounds of it, your current implant dentist is not focused on the aesthetics and how it looks. So, he may be doing his best, it’s just not good enough. If a dentist is passionate and has the right skills to create a beautiful porcelain crown, they wouldn’t be satisfied until you loved the way it looks. If you saw an expert cosmetic dentist, they would give you several opportunities to see exactly how it would look before the crown was bonded permanently. They would listen to your concerns and work very closely with the laboratory to match the color perfectly so it blends in naturally with the surrounding teeth. If you gave any indication that you weren’t happy, it would be sent back to the lab until it was just right. But that would have had to happen prior to it being cemented in place again. It is very telling what your dentist’s focus is since the second time he placed the crown, he didn’t coordinate the color with more care.

So, it is time to move on from this dentist. When a dentist refers you to go to the lab to check the color, that is a clear indication of either his lack of understanding or lack of caring. The dentist should have been way more involved in the process.

It would be in your best interest to try to find the best cosmetic dentist that you can in your area. Share your experience and work with them on finding a color that will work perfectly. But be aware that not every dentist can do cosmetic dentistry well, as we talked about earlier. Research their credentials, ask to see cases similar to yours and ask them to show you photographs or examples of work.

Hopefully, the implant post is still functioning as it should. If the pain doesn’t improve in the next couple weeks, you may have a bigger issue to deal with. But assuming it’s just a little sore from the crown being redone, then it should only be the crown that needs to be fixed.

Thank you for sharing your story. Hopefully, it helps someone else to be more cautious about who they select as their implant or cosmetic dentist.

This post is sponsored by Petaluma dentist Rick Lane, DDS.