Dental issue - should I complain?

[MappandLucia]

I had some dental treatment about 4 years ago with a new dentist.

I had several large,old fillings in my molars which she recommended I have removed and then have the teeth crowned. I had 5 teeth crowned, ('jacket' style, without posts) at a cost of around £2500.

I have since changed my dentist as I really wasn't keen on the other one - she was very rough and even the injections were painful!

Anyway - 4 out of the 5 crowns have subsequently broken/fallen out. I had one re-done at my new dentist and it cost £850, as much of the tooth had come out with the crown and I needed a post fitting.

I am thinking that I should complain about the original dentist - surely crowns should last lomger than this? wwyd?

Can you ask your current dentist for their view?

maybe have a word with the local consultant maxillo facial surgeon?

The original dentist is a maxillo facial surgeon (she does half and half)! I always thought she was so rough because she's used to her patients being unconscious!

I will ask my new dentist, who btw is super-gentle.

Definitely ask your new dentist. To address a couple of issues:

No dental treatment will last forever, if (and I'm not for a moment suggesting this applies to you) you continue to have sugar in tea or coffee, eat sweets or acidic food regularly or smoke, you would be contributing to the demise of these crowns and it wouldn't really be anyone elses fault. Why have they failed? Did your dentist give you a reason? Decay/Gum disease/trauma etc etc.

Secondly, I may as well ask my dog to look at a crown as our local maxillo facial surgeon. These are amazingle well qualified (Doctor and dentist) people however, they have very, very little to do with routine dentistry and would amlost certainly not see someone for an issue like this.

I have never heard of someone who does half and half max fax surgery and general practice, lots of oral surgeons do though.

Hope you get it sorted.

Thanks for advice dentist!

I have just checked her credentials in case I was mistaken and it states, she 'also practices as a surgeon in Oral & Maxillofacial surgery at one of London's leading teaching hospitals ....',

I don't think my lifestyle has contributed, I don't eat sugary food and I don't smoke. Two of the teeth had previously been root filled though?

Now I have had a new crown with new dentist, I can really feel the difference. It just feels like one of my teeth, whereas the others never did.

I genuinely think she's a not particularly good general dentist, she took over the practice from another dentist which is how I got 'lumbered'. All of the temporary crowns she made fell off almost immediately and she had absolutely no 'chair-side' manner.

Well, that's a first for me! Some of us (me included) aren't very good at chairside mannet, well I suppose for me it comes in fits and starts!! Good days and bad. Anyway, root filled teeth are so much weaker than natural teeth so this will definitely contribute, sometimes I will put a crown on one but warn the patient it is a last gasp effort to keep it. Impossible to say without looking at the tooth and x rays etc etc.

I have had 3 crowns on the same tooth (I always choose the best possible dentist to do the work!), the forst one when I was 17, I'm now 29 so it's not implausible that they can fail after this time. I presume you pay privately? TBH, if someone tried to stick a crown on my tooth that didn't look like my teeth (no matter how much or little I had paid) I would say no thank you, it's not right so do make sure you stand up for yourself (without being an arse-I'm sure you're not but lots of people are!!!!!).

Hope your new dentist suits you better though, it's a relationship and sometimes you just can't get on with or trust someone or whatever, it makes sense to move on!

3 crowns on the same tooth, blimey - that's sobering.

Btw, the crowns all looked like my teeth, but didn't feel like them necessarily.

I have paid privately yes, and I have happily moved on. But can't help but feel original dentist was inept, but will let new dentist advise me as to what to do next.