Baton Rouge Dentist

Archives for January 2011

Injured top and bottom front teeth

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Three weeks ago I took a bad fall, and now all of my front teeth – top and bottom – are turning black. Something feels like it is broken or jammed up near my nose. Could it be a broken root?

What I am wondering is whether or not I should see a dentist or a doctor? What will they do about this kind of injury, and is this going to be really expensive? I have good medical insurance, but no dental coverage. If my teeth are dead, will they have to be pulled and replaced with dental implants? Is it possible just to cover up the dead teeth with porcelain veneers?

Thanks for your help with this.

Randy in Lake Odessa

Dear Randy,

Your teeth will need root canal treatments. When a tooth turns black after an injury, it means that the nerve tissue inside the tooth has died. Possibly you have cracked the roots of your teeth. If that is the case, the teeth are not salvageable and must be removed and replaced with dental implants.

The darkened teeth will probably need porcelain crowns after treatment. There is a method of bleaching darkened teeth from the inside, but many dentists do not know how to do that procedure.

Were your teeth displaced in the accident? You don’t mention that they were, so for the purposes of this post, we’ll assume that they are all in the correct places. The “broken root” up near your nose is concerning, especially since something like that should have been addressed as soon as possible after your accident.

All of this treatment should be done by a highly skilled cosmetic dentist, which may not be the answer you were hoping for in terms of insurance coverage. As to how much the entire treatment will cost, it depends on whether or not the teeth can be saved. Root canals are a few hundred dollars each, and porcelain crowns are usually around two thousand, depending on what part of the country you are in. Dental implants are more than that.

I am afraid this will indeed be quite expensive, but our last bit of advice is to find a very talented cosmetic dentist to help you. Do not price shop for this kind of treatment. Best of luck.

This blog posted courtesy of Baton Rouge dentist Dr. Perry.

Dental implants through ClearChoice

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I am writing to tell you about an experience I had through ClearChoice, and to see if in your opinion the treatment recommendations were sound.

I recently had an appointment at a Clear Choice clinic, which I made through a representative they sent to the senior center I belong to. I had all my teeth extracted a year ago, and have been trying to come up with the best option for treatment, as I HATE wearing full dentures. The ClearChoice people I met were just so nice, I thought that they could really help me, and when they told me about how dental implants look and feel like your natural teeth I was really excited to check it out.

Well, what a disappointment! I went in, and they assured me that I was an ideal candidate for the procedure, except for the part where I don’t have more than $50,000 laying around to get the work done! They tried to talk me into looking at different financing options, but I just had to leave. I could not even believe how much the cost was! After all, I already have all my teeth extracted! When I mentioned this, and asked about why it did not reduce the price, I was informed that tooth extractions are done for free when you are getting implants done with them

What a bunch of flim flam artists! I am not naive enough to think that it does not cost them anything to extract people’s teeth, especially not since I remember very well how much it cost me to have that done.

I recently went to another dentist and received a much lower quote on what it would cost to have this done. I know from reading other articles that it is a bad idea to “price shop” for dental implants, but this doctor’s credentials were impeccable, and he showed me pictures of his successful cases. I really want this done, and can afford to do it with the lower priced doctor.

I guess I just wrote to vent, and to ask how in the world ClearChoice can get away with charging those kind of prices. They are more than 40% higher than the quote I received from my current dentist. How can that be?

Meredith in Ludington, MI

Dear Meredith,

We are sorry to hear about your negative experience! While ClearChoice has a reputation for doing top of the line work using only the best materials, unfortunately they are also known to charge top of the line prices using aggressive sales tactics.

If you have thoroughly vetted your current dentist’s credentials and seen examples of previous successful cases, you should be able to go forward with treatment in confidence. As you have discovered, dental implants are the ideal treatment for missing teeth.

Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Perry’s office provides this blog as a courtesy.