I recently had two dental implants placed that a dental bridge was attached to on the right side of my bite. The problem I am having is that when I bite down, my right side matches up but my left side does not. Is this a problem in the long run? It is uncomfortable. I talked to my dentist about it and he said it is the surgeon’s problem and fault because he did the work first. Of course he did! How else could the dentist put the restoration on? The surgeon of course says it is the dentist’s fault because he placed the restoration. I don’t know what to do.
Rose
Dear Rose,
This does need to be fixed. When your bite does not come together properly then it can lead to TMJ Disorder. This can leave you in pain for the rest of your life. I’m a little unclear as to who determined the placement of your dental implants. Whenever you have a dentist and an oral surgeon working on the implant procedure together, it is always the dentist who determines the placement.
If the oral surgeon insisted on determining the placement himself, then he is definitely at fault. It is standard procedure for the dentist to determine the placement, if he violated that he’s to blame. However, if he followed the dentist’s instructions in placement, then it is the dentist who is responsible.
Either way, this needs to be redone. The good news is you definitely deserve a full refund here plus the cost of bone grafting, which we’ll get into in a moment. Once you get that secured, you’ve got to get a different dentist to do this. Unfortunately, you will need bone grafting done first because you will lose bone when they remove the implants. Once the grafting is completed, then you can have the implants done again.
Make sure the person you have do the procedures has a significant amount of post-doctoral training in dental implants. What is taught in dental school is not enough.
This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.
