Baton Rouge Dentist

Archives for April 2017

I Think the Teeth Whitening Shop Destroyed My Teeth?

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I went to a teeth whitening shop which opened in our city mall. The sales lady assured me only certified teeth whitening specialists were allowed to work on my teeth. I liked their price and she showed me all their safety measures so it sounded like a good alternative to my dentist. I asked how they could do the procedure so much cheaper than my dentist and she said it was an issue of lower overhead. They only do this procedure so they won’t have to have a ton of staff or expensive machines. I think I made a huge mistake. My gums feel like they’re being stabbed by a hundred mini daggers and my teeth look all blotchy, especially where I have a filling. Are my teeth destroyed? With the pain to my gums, will I lose my teeth?

Dolly M.

Dear Dolly,

It’s more likely the pain to your gums is a result of the whitening agent or the light they used coming in contact with your gums. That won’t make your teeth fall out, but it will hurt like the dickens. Saltwater rinses may give you some relief. If they were as trained as they claimed to be, they would have taken precautions to protect your gums.

That brings me to their “certification”. There is no such thing as a certified teeth whitening specialist through the American Dental Association. That’s likely just a term they use for their company when they “train” their employees. However, this training is showing some real deficits.

We’ve already discussed how your gums should have been protected during the teeth whitening procedure. But, they should have discussed your fillings with you before moving forward with your treatment. Dental work, such as fillings or crowns, do not whiten. Only natural tooth structure is affected by the whitening agent. Once a couple of weeks have passed and the color has had a chance to settle, you can have white fillings re-done to match the new, whiter color of your teeth.

If you’re still in pain, even with the salt-water rinses, it’s perfectly acceptable for you to take a pain reliever, such as ibuprofen.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Ryan Perry.

“Affordable Dentist” Rip-off

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I had the side of my face swell up. I knew this was likely some kind of dental emergency, but couldn’t afford to go to my dentist. He’s sort of high end, because, for most part, I believe you get what you pay for. I decided I needed an affordable dentist for this, which I was sure would be a simple procedure that any general dentist could do. Worst case scenario, I’d need a root canal. I was so mistaken. He looked at the tooth and did decide it needed a root canal. He was doing the procedure. I’ve had root canals before, so I know what to expect. This guy was awful. He jerked by face everywhere, grumbled under his breath, and even said a few words I wouldn’t think would be appropriate in a profesional setting. Then there was a crack and he cursed and stormed out of the room. He comes back and says the tooth has to be extracted. I agreed. Then I get a bill and he’d charged me for both procedures, including his botched one. I tried talking to the office about it, but they said I shouldn’t expect him to work for free. Do I have any recourse?

Kerri L. – South Carolina

Kerri,

This is a tricky situation. While he does deserve to be paid for his job, it’s bad form to charge for a botched procedure, especially for a dentist who advertises as an “affordable dentist“. Those patients generally don’t have a lot of discretionary money to begin with. There are three possible options you can do to deal with the billing.

First, I’d try calling and speaking directly to the dentist, instead of the billing department. It’s possible the dentist will admit he shouldn’t have charged you for the root canal treatment gone wrong.

If that doesn’t work, you can bring your x-rays to your regular dentist. Of course, that will require explaining why you went to another dentist. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can always go to a completely different dentist for a second opinion. Some dentists even do free dental exams. IF the dentist says you were misdiagnosed, there’s a good chance you can get your money back.

Barring that, you can try the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Whether you will get any money back will mostly depend on the skill of their dispute resolution specialist.

I’m sorry you’ve had this experience. If you find yourself in another bind, you may just talk to your dentist about the situation. He (or she) would likely allow you to work out a payment plan, especially because you’re an established patient.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Ryan Perry.