Baton Rouge Dentist

Archives for June 2014

Whiten dark lines at top of teeth

Posted on by .

I’ve been getting these dark lines at the top of my teeth, near the gumline. It’s on all the teeth that have dental crowns. Will teeth whitening solve this problem?

Stacy S.  – Wyoming

Stacy,

Unfortunately, the problem isn’t your teeth, it’s your crown. You can’t whiten dental crowns using teeth whitening. It sounds like your dentist gave you porcelain fused to metal crowns. Eventually, they all develop a dark line at your gumline.

The only way to fix this problem is to get new crowns. This time get all porcelain crowns. They’ll be more natural looking and you won’t get a gray line. However, because you realize that dental work can’t get whitened, you might consider getting your teeth whitened before you re-do the crowns. Then, you can get the all-porcelain crown to match your new sparkly white smile.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.

NOT saving money would have saved me money

Posted on by .

Dear Dr. Perry,

I just wanted to tell you about something that could help dental patients in the future.  Maybe they’re like me and don’t have much money. I go to the local dental school to get my teeth cleaned, because they only charge $50. They do a fantastic job with cleaning. Unfortunately, they don’t treat things like cavities and root canals.  I needed a dental crown. I called around to every dentist in the city in order to find the absolute cheapest dentist around.

I ended up finding this guy that charged less than half of everyone else. I thought this would be a great way to get affordable dental care. He was a new dentist and just opening his first practice. I thought it would be a win-win situation. He’d graduated from dental school and needed some clients. I figured he knew what he was doing, as he had graduated. I was wrong.

He’s had to reinstall the dental crown four, yes FOUR times.  That meant  I’ve missed work three extra appointments. I’m payed by the hour, not salaried, so that has cost me a day and a half of pay in total. On top of that, buy the time he went to put the crown in the fourth time, it no longer fit right and caused me a lot of pain. We had to re-do another, brand new crown. Somehow between the fourth fit of the first crown and the second crown I got an infection.  Now, I still have no crown, I’m dealing with an infection, and I’m out quite a bit of money. If I’d have just gone to a regular dentist to begin with instead of trying to find the cheapest, I would have save a lot of money.

I hope this saves some of your patients. It’s better to go to an experienced dentist, like Dr. Perry, than to “save money”.

Amelia M. – Oklahoma

Amelia,

Thank you for your warning. I have seen many disastrous “affordable” treatments in my lifetime. For future reference, there is no reason for a dental crown to fall out once, let alone four times. Competent dentists go their entire career without a crown falling out when it is cemented in.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.

 

I’m worried about my jawbone

Posted on by .

My jawbone is getting smaller. My dentist says it is because I have dentures instead of dental implants and that it will keep happening. I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford dental implants, so my dentist says there is nothing more he can do for me. Are there no options?

Henry C. – Frankfurt, KY

Henry,

I’m sorry for the situation you are in. Did your dentist mention mini-implants? I hope so.  It is unethical to not give all your treatment options.

Mini-implants are a more affordable option, so that may be something you can do. It costs less, because the surgery is much simpler.

I am a little concerned about your bone loss. If you don’t have enough bone structure, which may be the case if you were recognizing it visually, then you’d have to have some bone grafting done, which will increase the cost.

Many dentists have payment plans that are low and even no interest. You might look into that as well.

This blog is brought to youby Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.