Archives for April 2021

16 Year Old with a Baby Tooth

Posted on April 30, 2021 by writeradmin.

I have a baby lateral incisor still, even though I am sixteen years old. I would like to replace it so I can have a “grown-up” tooth. Can I replace it with a dental implant? I am planning on having my senior pictures taken in the fall. I’d like to have something that looks nice.

Candace

Dear Candace,

A dental implant is a great tooth replacement option. However, before you do that, two things need to be in place. First, you will want to make sure that you do not have an adult tooth under your gums that is impacted. If you do, a dental implant will not work because there will be no place to put it. The tooth root will be in the way. Instead, you will need to work with your dentist to open the gum and direct the tooth into its proper position. This may require some orthodontics, but if you get on it quickly, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting some beautiful senior pictures.

If, however, you are dealing with a congenitally missing tooth, then it will definitely need to be replaced. While a dental implant is the best tooth-replacement option, you will need to wait until your jaw is completely developed. This will be in your early twenties. Until then, you will not need to go without a tooth there. After you have the baby tooth extracted, I would suggest a temporary tooth replacement, such as a dental flipper.

Finding the Right Implant Dentist

Once it is time to get that dental implant, you want to be careful about who does it. This is the leading area for dental malpractice suits. This is because too many inexperienced (or worse, untrained) dentists do this procedure with horrible consequences for the patient. There are a couple of things you will want to look for in the dentist you choose.

First, their dental implant training. Dental school is not enough. Ask them what type of post-doctoral training they have in the dental implant procedure. If they are offended by that question, it means they don’t have the training and you need to seek a dentist elsewhere. Secondly, you will want to ask them their success rate. It needs to be no lower than 95%. While there will always be some cases that fail, due to no fault of either the dentist or patient, when done by an experienced and skilled dentist most will succeed.

This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.

Her Dentist Won’t Take Out all the Teeth She Wants Out

Posted on April 20, 2021 by writeradmin.

I have an infected wisdom tooth and a tooth near it that had a root canal treatment a year ago. I want them both removed but for some reason, my dentist is only willing to take out the wisdom tooth. I’m putting off getting the wisdom tooth removed until I can talk him into doing both. Do you have any tips for getting a dentist to do what you want?

Danny

Dear Danny,

Before you pressure your dentist, I want you to think about why he would NOT want to extract this tooth. Extracting it makes more money for him. Leaving it does nothing for him To me this speaks volumes. My assumption is he truly doesn’t believe there is anything wrong with the tooth and feels it would be an unnecessary procedure and expense for you. Plus, while you do not have to replace wisdom teeth, you do need to replace other missing teeth. By not replacing it, your bite will shift which risks you developing painful TMJ Disorder.

Now, in addition to the cost of the additional extraction (which makes him money), you will have the cost of a tooth replacement, such as a dental implant (which also makes him money). It sounds to me like you have a dentist with integrity that is trying to give you the best oral health possible without costing you money for procedures you don’t need.

If you still want to extract the tooth, then you can pressure him by saying, “either you extract it or I’ll go somewhere else to have it done.” That may have him extract it or he may tell you to go somewhere else.

Whatever you do, do it quickly. You have an infected wisdom tooth. Tooth infections are considered dental emergencies for very good reasons. Think about how close your jaw is to your heart, lungs, and brain. Tooth infections spread. If it reaches a sensitive area, such as those I mentioned then you put your life at risk. If you still want to insist on both teeth being removed at the same time, I am sure you will find a dentist willing to take the fee.

This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.

Having Doubts about this Lumineers Case

Posted on April 10, 2021 by writeradmin.

My husband purchased me a Lumineers package for my birthday. I went in and had all the planning and tooth preparation done and then was just waiting for them to arrive. Several weeks passed and then the cosmetic dentist called and said that something is wrong with the impressions and they need to be re-done. Is this a common thing? As my husband had already paid should I be worried that he is just going to keep our money and not actually ever provide the Lumineers?

Elle

Dear Elle,

I have some concerns here, but not that you will not get your smile makeover. My concern is you are going to get your smile makeover and hate it. Here are some things you need to know. First, cosmetic dentistry is not a recognized specialty. This means any dentist can call themselves a cosmetic dentist regardless of the amount of training they’ve received. Second, smile makeovers are not taught in dental school, so that training is imperative for a dentist to do a respectable job at these procedures. This leads me to Lumineers themselves.

Lumineers are simply a brand of porcelain veneers. However, they are a brand that is heavily marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists. I have a very bad feeling that your dentist falls into this category for a reason we’ll go into in a moment. Almost all expert cosmetic dentists do not like the brand. This is mostly because the company insists you use their lab, which is not known for its artistic results.

As for your dentist and the impression, that is a completely different concern. While it is not totally unheard of for impressions to need to be re-done, and it happens to even the best dentists, it is the duration with yours that has me concerned. The lab would have known right away that something wasn’t right and contacted your dentist. Maybe because he is so new that he was embarrassed and didn’t contact you right away. But, the length of time tells m that either he held onto it or he sent it back to the lab, telling them to try to work with it, but it was so bad they said no work could be done.

Here is one thing you can do to protect yourself when it comes to cosmetic work. Insist your dentist use a try-in paste when the Lumineers finally arrive. This is a water-soluble gell that allows you to have your Lumineers tried on without permanently bonding them on. You should then get a good look at them in several lights. Only give your approval for them to be bonded on if you are pleased with how your new smile looks. If you aren’t, tell your dentist what you aren’t thrilled with and he should send them back to the lab to be redone until you are thrilled.

This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.

Matching Dental Work to Really White Teeth

Posted on April 1, 2021 by writeradmin.

I am new to my area due to getting transferred. I’ve always whitened my teeth once every two years and they are very white. With the transfer and the pandemic, I haven’t had time to find a new dentist and recently fell and chipped a tooth. I went to a dentist someone at work recommended. He told me I’d need to get a crown on the tooth to repair it. The problem I am having is getting the crown to match. I’ve asked him to send it back to make it whiter as it is obviously darker than my teeth, but he insists this is the whitest shade and showed me a shade guide to prove it. I’m having a hard time believing that people who whiten their teeth never need dental crowns. Is there no way to make my dental work match my whitened teeth?

Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

I think what you are up against is your bread and butter family dentist versus a true cosmetic dentist. While there is not a recognized specialty in cosmetic dentistry, there are dentists who have invested a significant amount of more time in cosmetic training than others. Dentists who invest in this training know things your average dentist doesn’t. One of those things is the tools available to match dental work. Your dentist is probably using the old color shade guide (pictured above).

That particular shade guide worked for many years. But, then teeth whitening gained in popularity this shade guide became outdated. Teeth were now whiter than the whitest shade on the guide. To respond to this need, I new shade guide was developed. This one had much whiter shades that dentists can use to match to the needed dental work. This shade guide (pictured directly below) has whiter options.

You did not say where the tooth was, but my guess. is it is a front tooth. This is even more challenging. To be quite frank, I don’t think your dentist is up to the task. The front teeth are the most visible because the light hits them directly, exposing all the variations and subtleties of the teeth. Even expert cosmetic dentists will take one or two try-ins before getting it right. If he does not even have the right shade guide, then he will not be able to match a crown to a front tooth which will need specific additional instructions to the ceramist. In your place, I would look for a dentist recommended on the mynewsmile.com website. These are among the best cosmetic dentists in the country.

This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Duane Deluane.

Click here to learn about our complimentary virtual smile makeover consultation.