[CheechWeech]

Long, ranty, plus looking for advice...

I have been going to the same dentist for 12 years or so now. He's been a pretty decent reliable dentist, and I generally have been happy with him. My one gripe has been that recently he is billing himself as more of a "cosmetic" dentist, and thus is suggesting work that (IMHO) isn't absolutely necessary for the health of the teeth, but rather for aesthetics. For example, he has been after me for a long time to have braces put on. I had them in my teens, and a couple of my lower teeth have drifted slightly, but it isn't something that bothers me at all, and I am happy with the way my teeth look, so no dice. And he seems frustrated every time he brings it up, and I turn it down.

About 10 years ago, he installed a crown on one of my front teeth (tooth #7) . I had originally had a crown on that tooth after I got my braces off because the tooth was undersized, and oddly enough, pointy. I had broken the original crown that I had installed in my teens and my current dentist had a new one made and "installed" it for me. During that process, he ground the existing tooth down to make a "post" which I understand is current practice, at least as far as I can find out, but I remember being horrified at how much of it was gone, but I'm definitely not a dentist so I just accepted it as being right.

Fast forward to last week, when I went to my dentist for the 6 month cleaning. They took the annual xrays and as the hygienist was finishing up the cleaning, the Dr. came in an asked her to take an additional xray of tooth #7. I was like "What? Why?" because I knew that the original xrays had developed and that he had had a chance to look at them. I wasn't in a very good state of mind anyways at this point because the hygienist was pretty new and was HORRIBLE. And neither the dentist nor the hygienist would tell me why they were taking the extra xray other than "We'll call you if there is any problem". I couldn't get anything out of them.

So the next day I got a call from the hygienist, who honest to God said, "There's a problem, you need to make an appointment with the periodonist" and then wouldn't tell me specifically what the problem was. So I set up the appointment for tomorrow, and went by his office today to pick up the extra xray that they had taken. Up until that point, I had seen this as my dentist trying to find things for me to have done. But when I looked at the xray, there IS something going on around the roots of that tooth when compared to the surrounding teeth, at least it looks different. But again, when I picked up the xray, nobody said anything to me about it, they just handed it to me in an envelope and I left.

So I have an appointment for tomorrow morning with the periodontist, which I am sorta nervous about, since a periodontist's stock in trade is root canals. I have no symptoms of anything, no pain, gums look good. But now that I have seen the xray I can't ignore that something appears to be going on there. Plus I'm kinda freaked out because it is my front tooth, which is so important for appearance.

I'm angry and disappointed that my dentist has shoved me off to another person instead of talking with me about this. I also think it is unusual/oddly coincidental that this is happening on the tooth that he did all of the work on, and I think that could be why he is apparently unwilling to talk with me about it so far. The part of my mind that thinks the worst, has considered that maybe the work he did originally was only set up to last for so long before needing to be redone, which of course I would have blindly done by him. My teeth overall are GOOD and I take GOOD care of them, which is why this is so shocking to me.

What do you all think of this? I don't think that I am seeing the whole thing clearly since I am worried right now about what I am going to find out tomorrow. And I am definitely having dental "trust issues" too. If I hadn't felt like my dentist was looking for things to do to my teeth in the past, I probably wouldn't feel so this way right now. I think I probably need a new dentist, but I have misgivings about that too, since he has been my dentist for so long, and does know my teeth well. If I have work that has to be done, it would seem to be better to go to an established provider, rather than try to pick someone new and hope for the best.

[Michele]

Cheech: As far as the crowns, I have a couple and they do file the tooth down quite a bit. If you are not feeling comfortable anymore with this dentist, I would find a new one. Maybe get a second opinion.

[JRSPITS]

I'm with you on the whole trust issue. I have the same problem : family dentist for 15 years. Never really trusted him, especially getting cavities in the same spot that were just filled 6 mo prior. I didn't think it was a big deal when my work switched insurance companies until I went to the new dentist.

The first thing they did was make me sign a form that said "dentistry is not an exact science and there are no guarantees." That made me feel great!!!!!! Then they take 20 x-rays(never had that many before) tell me I have 4 cavities, and a broken tooth, and need to kill all bacteria in my mouth by needles injected in my gums. I had no pain from the broken tooth but need a root canal to "try" to save the tooth and then fit a crown.

I wish I could go back to my old dentist, but I can't even afford one filling with insurance. Moral of the story : I don't trust anyone with my teeth but I would rather have someone I know work on them.

[DivineOblivion19]

Wow Cheech, I would have demanded that they tell me what's going on. If they didn't I probably would have unloaded in the office. It's total bullshit that they didn't tell you anything. I think it is a good thing that you are going somewhere BESIDES that place to get an opinion of what's going on. Good luck.

[CheechWeech]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas. I went to the periodontist this AM, he took a couple more xrays, examined them. Also examined the tooth and said that everything was fine. The xrays that he took didn't show as much of a difference at all of the area around this tooth as my regular dentist's did. The periodontist thought that the observation was due to the way my upper teeth are arranged in my mouth and not due to any problem. He was great - he sat down and talked with me about what he had seen and why he felt the way that he does. And I trust his opinion.

What you guys said is so right - I am just concerned and disappointed at the way that my regular dentist treated me during this. I just don't think that it is professional for him to have one of this employees call me up, state that there is a problem, and tell me nothing about it. I think this would really concern most people if they had to wait for a week to find out if they had an issue or not.

The part that bothers me the most, that I didn't mention last night, was how much of a hurry the dentist was in to go home that day that I was in his office. As I was signing the papers at the desk as I left, just a few minutes after they took the additional xray, he breezed out the door of the office going home. He didn't even bother to look at the xray that he had taken that day, it probably wasn't even developed yet, so that maybe he could have talked with me about it. He just had someone call me the next day. His office is open until 5 and it was only 4:30 when I was leaving, so it wasn't like he would have had to stay late. And now that I know that everything is ok, I can see that this is what is really bothering me, that he didn't have any time for me, and, basically pushed me off to another professional to deal with it. I was just so freaked out last night, I couldn't figure out what was bothering me.

I hate the idea of finding a new dentist, but I have such misgivings about Dr. Charlie now. Fortunately, I just had my cleaning last week so I have some time (6 months) to sort things out. I think I should contact him in some way to let him know my concerns and see if he is responsive. I'm definitely not feeling valued as a patient by him right now, but I'm willing to give him a chance to explain and try to patch things up.

[JRSPITS]

"IF" he has been a good dentist up to this point I would confront him and ask for an explanation. You never know what his deal was - doctors are people too. Maybe he had a family emergency?