Disagreeing with my dentist! Please help
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 3:00 pm
Ok this is my situation. I have come a long way from not visiting a dentist in 20 yrs. I got 4 extractions as suggested by the ortho plus two other molars in the back that were decayed badly and needed to be extracted as well. I had the 6 extractions done in one day. I was sent to get a cleaning. I was really nervous but was calmer this time. I went in and met the dentist. She was very nice and gentle. I had a full set of digital xrays done and then they took this sharp thing which measures the inside of the gums to see the severity of gum disease I had. They have it numbered from 1-9 I guess or 1-10 not sure. Well most healthy ok gums have a 3. Each tooth was measured and the back molars were like 4-5 which showed moderate periodontal disease. My front were not so bad around 3-4. So I needed the "Deep Cleaning" Lots of chunks were removed today and I feel my upper teeth fresh now! Ok sorry for all the long details.
She checked over my Xrays and she found 2 cavities total. I have one on my lower molar next to my wisdom tooth which I knew about. Not terrible but it needs a filling. The other one is a small one on/in myfront tooth.
I asked her since my front tooth is overlapping the other front tooth ,would it be easier to fix the cavity if my front tooth was in the correct position or at least seperated enough from the other front tooth and she said yes, it would be easier to fix. But then in the same time she tells me that People should not get braces if they have a cavitiy. The cavity in question does NOT have a hole and you can't see any spot on the tooth itself. It's in the tight space where my front tooth is overlapping the other front tooth next to it. She also wanted to do a dental something mold and write on each tooth the depth of my gumline or something like that. I called my ortho and explained to him that even though I liked her and I loved the dental hygenist. I felt that she is the type of dentist who wants everything perfect and sometimes does so many things on a patient without thinking of their finances. I asked the dentist if they needed to do any work and I had braces on how would they do it. She said that the ortho would need to remove the wire for that day and then put the wire back on . My ortho said he had no problem in removing the wire so she can work on a tooth etc... I want what is absolutely needed to have decent dental health. I made it clear to her that I understood that she probably wanted to do many things but I had to decide what was absolutely neccesary to keep the teeth I have.
My daughter has a small cavity on one of her upper molar and she has had braces on for about a month now. I am taking her in soon to get that problem fixed.
I am going back for my lower deep cleaning which they call Debrisment .
I already have an appt to get my braces on the upper teeth only on this Wednesday. My main problem is that I don't agree with all the stuff the dentist said. She has extensive training in this and I understand that. Why does she say I NEED this mold done in her office etc..... I don't agree that I should pay an additional $250 for the mold that insurance does NOT cover. She also said that all my wisdom teeth should be pulled. None of them are under the gumline,they are not twisted,they do not have cavities in any of them.I have seen several types of wisdom teeth that needed to be extracted ,usually impacted wisdom tooth,or it grew in laying down or it's way below the gumline. I told her that I would cross that bridge when I get to it. If I have a problem later on that they are giving me pain,cavity and so on I will have it extracted. But it's rare that a dentist ever says "leave it alone for now"
I feel bad sort of because when I go back in two weeks to do the deep cleaning on bottom I will have my braces on top and I know the dentist will frown when she sees this. My other issue is the fact that I cannot chew anything bigger than a lima bean because of 4 molars extracted on the bottom.
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! any suggestions? Great dentist are not that easy to find in my area. There is another highly recommended dentist but she is always booked about 5 months in advance!
Gennel
She checked over my Xrays and she found 2 cavities total. I have one on my lower molar next to my wisdom tooth which I knew about. Not terrible but it needs a filling. The other one is a small one on/in myfront tooth.
I asked her since my front tooth is overlapping the other front tooth ,would it be easier to fix the cavity if my front tooth was in the correct position or at least seperated enough from the other front tooth and she said yes, it would be easier to fix. But then in the same time she tells me that People should not get braces if they have a cavitiy. The cavity in question does NOT have a hole and you can't see any spot on the tooth itself. It's in the tight space where my front tooth is overlapping the other front tooth next to it. She also wanted to do a dental something mold and write on each tooth the depth of my gumline or something like that. I called my ortho and explained to him that even though I liked her and I loved the dental hygenist. I felt that she is the type of dentist who wants everything perfect and sometimes does so many things on a patient without thinking of their finances. I asked the dentist if they needed to do any work and I had braces on how would they do it. She said that the ortho would need to remove the wire for that day and then put the wire back on . My ortho said he had no problem in removing the wire so she can work on a tooth etc... I want what is absolutely needed to have decent dental health. I made it clear to her that I understood that she probably wanted to do many things but I had to decide what was absolutely neccesary to keep the teeth I have.
My daughter has a small cavity on one of her upper molar and she has had braces on for about a month now. I am taking her in soon to get that problem fixed.
I am going back for my lower deep cleaning which they call Debrisment .
I already have an appt to get my braces on the upper teeth only on this Wednesday. My main problem is that I don't agree with all the stuff the dentist said. She has extensive training in this and I understand that. Why does she say I NEED this mold done in her office etc..... I don't agree that I should pay an additional $250 for the mold that insurance does NOT cover. She also said that all my wisdom teeth should be pulled. None of them are under the gumline,they are not twisted,they do not have cavities in any of them.I have seen several types of wisdom teeth that needed to be extracted ,usually impacted wisdom tooth,or it grew in laying down or it's way below the gumline. I told her that I would cross that bridge when I get to it. If I have a problem later on that they are giving me pain,cavity and so on I will have it extracted. But it's rare that a dentist ever says "leave it alone for now"
I feel bad sort of because when I go back in two weeks to do the deep cleaning on bottom I will have my braces on top and I know the dentist will frown when she sees this. My other issue is the fact that I cannot chew anything bigger than a lima bean because of 4 molars extracted on the bottom.
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! any suggestions? Great dentist are not that easy to find in my area. There is another highly recommended dentist but she is always booked about 5 months in advance!
Gennel