My dentist messed up my bite with my CEREC crown

I wanted to fix some metal-based dental work with non-metal. That included exchanging out some mercury-filled fillings for white fillings, as well as a metal-based crown. I felt like when I first met with this dentist that she was a bit sloppy, but she agreed to do metal-free and so I thought I’d be better off in the long run. That turned out not to be true. She wanted to use this new technology called CEREC which would supposedly give me a perfect crown in the same appointment. I think that was a problem because the computer didn’t make the crown the right size. Though, I also think the dentist should have checked that the dental crown fit properly before cementing it in. I told her that it didn’t feel right. I also had a problem with my other teeth hitting way sooner than the new crown, which was causing pain. She felt the problem was the crown next to the one she did, that made no sense to me because it was never a problem before I had the crown done. But she ground that tooth down anyway. That caused my front teeth to start hitting things they hadn’t hit before so she ground those down some too. This made my smile look unattractive. It also threw off a different part of my bite and I started to have trouble chewing. I asked her what needed to be done now and she’s telling me to get get braces. Really? I went to get a second opinion somewhere else and they said that the problem was the original crown the dentist replaced. It was too small. He suggested I build up the teeth she ground down as well. Was going to a holistic dentist a mistake or using this CEREC technology that makes crowns the wrong size the problem?

Sammy

Dear Sammy,

Neither of those things, the dentist being holistic or using a CEREC crown are the root of what went wrong here. First, let’s start with the CEREC crown. These are actually very good at providing a precisely fit restoration. The problem you had is because of the lack of skill your dentist had in working with the software.

You’ve probably heard the term Garbage-In/Garbage-Out. A computer does what you tell it to. So, if your dentist gives it bad information, it will provide you with a horrible crown made perfectly to the dentist’s order. It isn’t the fact that the dentist was holistic either. There are plenty of great holistic dentists. I think you just happened to go to a holistic dentist who was an unskilled dentist in general.

This dentist did more than violate the standard of care, she damaged your bite. You could end up with TMJ Disorder. In your place, I would tell her that you want her to pay to get this fixed by a dentist of your choice. You don’t just want a refund, because it’s going to take more to repair it than it likely cost you with her.

If she gives you trouble, let her know that you understand the strength of your position and are perfectly willing to do a malpractice lawsuit. You’ll probably get money for pain and suffering too. But, lawsuits take a lot of time and you’ll still need to get it fixed and out of pain. Ideally, she will cooperate.

This blog is brought to you by Nashville Cosmetic Dentist Dr. David Wickness.