Thursday, June 30, 2011

My dental implants-help!?

I got my two front teeth replaced with porcelain dental implants unfortunatly my idiot of a dentist put them in the same colour of my own teeth-yellow!! And since my insurance had run out he can't do anything as I'm moving away...what I need to know is can I get them taken out and replaced with whiter ones?as u know they are screwed in and the bone moulds around them.any information would be brillant!please help its depressing!! Also would it be expensive?would they have to start all over again or is it fairly simple?
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I'm a dentist. You call your dentist an "idiot" because he matched the prosthetic teeth to the color of the surrounding teeth? You should be thanking him for it, not criticizing him for it. First off, it is not a difficult process to replace the teeth. Just to educate you a bit, here's how a dental implant works: The titanium implant itself functions as the root. It is encased in bone, and is not easily replaced. There is a metal piece called an abutment that is fastened to the top of the implant using a tiny screw. This abutment sits above the gumline and will support what we call the "prosthesis", which is basically a dental crown (or cap, whichever you prefer). The abutment is a replaceable item. The crown is placed ontop of the abutment, and it can be attached to the abutment in one of two ways: It is cemented onto the abutment, or it is fastened to the abutment with a screw. The crown, like the abutment, is a replaceable item. Whichever way the crown is attached to the abutment, it can be removed and replaced. The abutment most likely won't have to be replaced. Now, there are other things for you to keep in mind--things that your doctor may very well have considered that you were unaware of: 1. Your two front (implant/prosthetic) teeth are supposed to match the color of the teeth around them. At least, that is the final result we seek. Either the implant teeth are made to match the surrounding teeth, or the implant teeth are made whiter than the surrounding teeth and the surrounding teeth are modified to match the color of the implant teeth. Sometimes it's simply not feasible, economically or medically, to modify the surrounding teeth to make them match whiter implant teeth. Perhaps you have thousands of dollars worth of dental work (none of which can be bleached whiter) on the surrounding teeth that would have to be replaced. Or perhaps you're a multi-millionaire and can afford to have the necessary replacement of dental work, but your teeth are not healthy enough for the procedure(s). Or, perhaps you don't have any dental work, but your natural teeth are not healthy enough for bleaching. If any of these were the case, then your "idiot of a dentist" did exactly what I and any other dentist would have done--make the implants to match the surrounding teeth. The ONLY place where the doctor might have been at fault is if he did not discuss the situation with you first. Generally, before I treat patients--especially where cosmetics is involved--I always give them all of the treatment options, and explain why some are good and others aren't, and discuss with them the costs. It sounds like, perhaps, you weren't informed of the situation. Or, quite possibly, you were informed, and you didn't understand. Either way, your best bet is to discuss the situation with the doctor. I will tell you this: while I take thorough measures to make sure my patients are making informed choices, and know exactly what they're getting in their mouths, once every blue moon I'll have a patient who is still unhappy with the result. As a doctor (and yes, as a businessman), I want my patient to be happy and I will gladly take any steps beyond my medical and legal obligations to make them happy. I will do that, as long as the patient does not mistreat me. Talk to your doctor, and you'll probably find that he has the same attitude. This situation of yours may have a good outcome yet.
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