Monthly Archives: September 2020

CEREC crowns, Uncategorized

CEREC Crowns on Front Teeth

I need to get a dental crown on a front tooth, but my dentist doesn’t want to provide it. He insists I won’t like it. Yet, he offers CEREC crowns. It doesn’t make sense to me. Why does he have the machine? Should I go to a different dentist to have it done?

Alan

Dear Alan,

Close up of front teeth

My guess is your dentist uses the CEREC crowns on teeth other than the front two teeth. There is a reason for this. When a CEREC crown is made, it is milled out of a single block of porcelain. This does fine on other teeth. However, if you look closely at the teeth above you’ll notice the teeth aren’t uniform from top to bottom. There are differences in opacity. When you get a traditional porcelain crown, which your dentist is suggesting, it is formed from several different blocks of porcelain in order to mimic those differences.

So, you have a few choices. You can go to a dentist who cares less about how the results will turn out and more about bringing in the fee from a patient in order to get the same-day crowns. Or you can listen to your dentist and allow him to do the traditional crowns.

It is your teeth and your smile. So, if having the best result isn’t as important to you as the convenience of one appointment, which is totally fine, then I would switch to another dentist to get the crown you want. You could also tell your dentist you understand it won’t look as good, but you still want CEREC and would prefer he get the fee than another dentist. Then, he may go ahead with it.

This blog is brought to you by Gilbert Dentist Dr. Matt Roper.

Affordable Dentistry

Can’t Afford Tooth Care

I have had a decaying wisdom tooth for some time. I just don’t have money for the dentist. Lately, though the pain is going up my cheekbone toward my eye. Because it is not just in my tooth, do you think I could get antibiotics for a doctor for the infection? I have medical insurance, but not dental insurance.

Eric

Dear Eric,

Man in pain, grabbing his cheek in need of emergency dental care.

I don’t want you to mess around with this. Believe it or not, people still die from tooth infections. While you could go to your doctor and he might give you an antibiotic, all that will do is hold the infection back for a short time. As soon as the antibiotic finishes, the infection will flare back up.

Dental infections are different than other types because once the pulp of the tooth is infected and dies there is no blood flow in the tooth. The antibiotic cannot reach the root of the infection. The only way to “heal” a tooth infection is to physically remove the infected pulp.

Normally, if the tooth can be saved, the best treatment option will be a root canal treatment. However, with a wisdom tooth you would just extract it.

Affording Dental Care

I know that does not mean you have any more money. However, I want you to think about what will happen when this infection spreads. It is already moving up your cheek. It is not too far from there to your brain. An infection like that will be life-threatening.

One thing I would do is look for a dentist who advertises as an affordable dentist. This almost always means they are willing to work out payment options for patients. That will especially be likely in a situation such as yours where there is an urgent care situation.

Another option, if you can’t find a dentist willing to work with you is to work through Care Credit. This is a medical credit card that will pay for your care and allow you to pay it off. You have to have reasonable credit, but if you qualify their terms are remarkably good.

Please don’t put this off.
This blog is brought to you by Gilbert Dentist Dr. Matt Roper.