Re: Two dental puzzles...
- From: "Jacob" <spam@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:18:18 GMT
I would agree with most everything that "George" has written. However, it
really is impossible to give you any meaningful
diagnosis/prognosis/treatment plan without examining you in person, or at
the very least, seeing your radiographs. I work as a volunteer at a free
clinic that has a large proportion of Hispanic patients, many of whom have
had dental work done in Mexico. To be very honest, the quality of the
Mexican dentistry that I've observed is extremely poor. If you do decide to
go to Mexico for dental care, which I would not, be VERY careful in
selecting your dentist. Some of the treatments that I've observed have been
FAR off the scale of what would be considered the standard of care in the
USA. If cost is an issue, I would definitely recommend going to a dental
school clinic -- there are several dental schools in Texas, and you will
find the fees MUCH lower and the quality of the work would be outstanding.
Good luck!
"Steve Richfie1d" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4iq3o9F4vku3U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have two dental puzzles that different dentists have given me conflicting
advice about. I suspect some combination of selling what they can do, not
seeing the entire picture, CYA (Cover Your Ass), adherence to
(dysfunctional) "standard practice", etc., etc.
I am looking to the best and most appropriate long-term solutions and NOT
what is "standard (CYA) practice", in other words, what would YOU do if
this was YOUR tooth, and NOT what you would recommend to a patient. As
with most other people, my financial resources ARE limited, though I have
crummy Delta Dental coverage and live near the Mexican border so I can get
ordinary procedures performed inexpensively.
Puzzle #1: My lower right first molar is abscessed. It has apparently been
so for a long time - looking bad on a 2-year-old X-ray. It has previously
had a root canal and has a pin going into one of the roots - the one that
looks the worst on a recent X-ray (with part of the tip of the root being
eaten away), though all of the roots appear abscessed with darkened
regions around them on the X-ray. At present, the tooth is firmly in place
with no pain, though it did hurt a couple of weeks ago and had risen very
slightly at that time.
My endodontist is ready to charge in and retreat the tooth, replace the
pin, etc., (for ~$2k), but my Mexican dentist advises against this
procedure because of a combination of low success rate and the risk of
spreading infection even if retreatment is "successful" and an even
greater risks if it is unsuccessful. Complicating this is the next tooth
over on the upper is broken off (see Puzzle #2), so that with both of
these teeth missing my chewing will be seriously impaired on my right
side. Also, I now have no shortage of strange heartbeat anomalies, some of
which are "understood" and are probably benign, while others have been a
continuing mystery, which might be blamed on a dental infection.
Of course, the decision as to what to do is based on probabilities and
costs. The costs are all too well known, but I really have no idea what
the probabilities are. Can you help here?
Puzzle #2: Like just about everyone else I know, I have a couple of
broken-off teeth, that for various reasons were not suitable for crowning
without extreme (read that "expensive") measures (root canal, pins,
buildup, etc.), that my meager budget just wouldn't support at that time.
They are tightly in place and not super-erupted. My Mexican dentist
advises me that my gums have since receded around them and they are now
unrecoverable - and is drooling over the prospect of installing bridgework
for ~$1,200 each, or better yet, implants for about double that price.
Some of the adjacent teeth are NOT crowned but have been extensively and
deeply amalgamed, so I suspect problems in crowning them to install a
bridge. Also, one of the adjacent teeth is a good incisor that I would
sure hate to lose to a crown.
What would seem reasonable to me (no, I am NOT a dentist, but I AM an
engineer), would be to build up a rounded conical "nub" onto each of these
broken teeth that would be high enough to engage the opposing tooth, but
would NOT hang off to the sides to dislodge it from the tooth when biting
down on something hard, so that no pins, etc., would be needed to secure
it. In one case, the opposing tooth is an all-gold crown that would almost
certainly be completely beyond any possibility of being damaged by this.
This is somewhat reminiscent of the aboriginal tribes that chip the
corners off of their teeth to look fierce, only in my case it would be
built-up material instead of original tooth. This wouldn't look quite like
original equipment, but these aren't front teeth. This wouldn't work quite
as well as original equipment, but it would put these teeth back into at
least partial service and hopefully preserve them for some decade in the
future when some other solution might be more appropriate, e.g. when the
adjacent teeth need crowns for other reasons, when my rich uncle dies and
leaved me enough to install implants, etc. Certainly, this would be better
than simply leaving them as they are to continue erupting, receding, etc.
I have had my fill of "professional advice"!! What I appear to need now
are ideas, suggestions, thoughts, experiences, or ~$20K to use traditional
methods if your piggy bank happens to be overflowing.
What do you think?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Steve Richfie1d
.
- References:
- Two dental puzzles...
- From: Steve Richfie1d
- Two dental puzzles...
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