Question:
About a year ago I had a crown put on one of my upper molars on the
left side of my mouth. At the same time on the upper right side I had
a gap filled with bridge (2 crowns and a pontic I believe it's
called?).
Anyway, when they fit the final crown on the left it always felt like
it sat too high. (when I close my mouth my left upper/bottom teeth
contact each other before the right side.). They had to do a bit of
grinding on the finished crown just to get it to fit, and on top of
that they had to grind it down due to it sitting high. It never felt
completely right, but since I've been missing part of my tooth to
decay for so long before that, it felt weird, but I assumed it to be
normal.
At any rate, within a week, I clenched my jaw in anger and it cracked
a major part of the crown. I never got it repaired because I feared
they would say it was my fault (after all I clenched). I didn't want
to have to repay for my own damage.
Answer:
Now it's been about a year since the procedure, and the right side is
now chipping left and right! I was eating some food, and part of my
left side crown chipped off. It all went down hill from there. About
2 days later, I was chewing on a plastic tooth pick (which I do on
occasion). The pontic completely broke (at least part of the outter
side chipped off. I could always feel parts of it chipping away as it
felt like dirt particles or sand were always in my mouth. this caused
me to constantly scrape my teeth gently side to side. I guess I have
an oral fixation and my mouth is constantly doing something. Anyway
the side to side movement broke off another big piece of the upper
right crown in the back. Now there's a sharp piece of porcelain
facing the rear of my mouth and it hits my cheek when I am chewing
food. Sometimes it hurts, but the major problem is I cannot leave it
alone!!! I keep trying to grind the chip down to make it dull.
At any rate I'm looking for some guidance as to what I'm to do. I've
always had a tongue piercing, but I have never had any problems with
my teeth due to it. I often grind my teeth, most of the time I don't
even know I'm doing it (i.e. sleeping). I guess it's Bruxism.
I contacted my insurance agency because I don't see how these things
should be breaking left and right. (before leaving the office I asked
if it will affect what I can eat or cannot... i.e. i chew on ice all
the time... they flat out told me no, that i can chew on chicken bones
if i want to, they'll be strong enough to withstand this). The
insurance company says my only options are to file malpractice (which
I think is a tad extreme and probably not the case, although it's
possible), or to go back and ask if they can fix it all at no cost, as
a warranty type of thing.
I don't wanna file malpractice because I have no proof that it was.
It could be simple issues with my teeth grinding, but I was told they
would survive eating bones.. how else am I to take that but they are
solid and won't break?
I also do not want to go back to this dentist because I never felt
really comfortable with him to begin with. The whole office seemed
rather off. (the dental assistant is who started grinding the crown
down to get it to fit right).
What do I do? This one operation maxed out my dental benefits for
that year, and I still paid almost $1500 out of pocket. I can't
afford to pay that again.
I was always fine without the bridge (it's been a gap for several
years because I never had insurance to pay for it), but the Dentist
talked me into it to prevent the bottom teeth from rupturing or
growing excessively?
If you did not have the bar-bell in your tongue, I would replace the bridge
at no charge. If the bar-bell went through the tongue after the bridge went
in, I would share the cost with you. If the bar-bell was in your mouth when
the dentist made the bridge, then the dentist should have warned you that
those things commonly break porcelain.
If there was not a hunk of metal bouncing around on the end of your tongue,
I would say that the porcelain fractured due to some defect during
manufacture of the crowns which was not visible. With a bar-bell through
your tongue, I would be very *suspicious* that the bar-bell cracked the
porcelain a little at a time.
I know it's my fault for waiting so long, but in my defense I have to
further say this.
At one point I had a really long barbell in and it would always hit my
back teeth. As soon as I got the crowns, I changed it out with one
that was half as long. I can't even hardly touch any of my teeth
without twisting my tongue in all sorts of painful fashions just to
get too the teeth.
The first crown broke, when I just clenched my jaw just within a day
or 2 of having it. Ever since I left the place I said that my left
crown made contact with my bottom teeth before my right side. That
would suggest that my bite wasn't corrected like it should have been.
The barbell has probably done it's fair share of chipping, but the
major breakages have been caused either by my own teeth (clenching),
or while I was chewing on a plastic toothpick. Plastic. I distinctly
remember when the pontic snapped. It felt like a gunshot in my head.
I was chewing on the toothpick, and SNAP. Major chunk gone.
I will further say that now with all the breakages, my bite almost
feels PERFECT. Looking at my teeth, you can see how my bottom fit
almost perfectly into each breakage in the crowns. It seems more
natural now than it ever did.
I know it's a lost cause to ask the doc to pay for it all over again
because it is very suspicious with me having this big hunk of metal.
What I'm asking is why it never felt natural to begin with? Both the
crown and the bridge always felt like they were not fitted correctly
to fill the grooves of my other teeth, for a natural bite setting.
I know I'm going to have to repay for it all.. if I even go that
route. Looks like I won't have a choice if these keep chipping away
and end up leaving my shaven teeth exposed. I'm already starting to
feel sensations. (2 of the teeth have had root canals, but one is a
live tooth that was shaved to fit part of the bridge).
My last question would be: If I get them replaced, can I get
something more durable at least? I don't care for the cosmetic part
of it. (if I could have titanium teeth, i'd replace them all haha).
Can I get something that is pretty much solid metal instead of just
the gold underlay of the porcelain?
Will it be cheaper than the porcelain vaneer? I just want my teeth
stumps covered with something I don't have to worry about breakin
everytime I eat/sleep.
