Are Same Day Crowns More Expensive?

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I’ve been considering getting same day crowns. They sound convenient and I’m going on the assumption they look natural. If that’s wrong, please correct me so I don’t make a mistake I’ll regret. However, are they a lot more expensive than the regular ones?

Isabelle

Dear Isabelle,

CEREC crowns are milled the same day as your appointment

First, we’ll cover the look of CEREC crowns versus traditional crowns. Whether or not any type of dental crown looks natural and attractive, depends on the cosmetic skill of the dentist. Therefore, when you are looking for a dentist who utilizes CEREC technology make sure you check out their cosmetic skill as well.

You can do that by asking to see samples of work they’ve done on dental crowns. They can be made to look as natural and translucent as your healthy teeth.

The one area where you’ll have to be even more careful is when it comes to a crown on a front tooth. Only the best cosmetic dentists can do that because CERECs are milled from a single block of porcelain.

The dentist will need to know a lot about color theory and how to use a variety of color “stains” to give it the texture variety of your natural teeth. If you look closely at your teeth, you’ll notice they’re not the same color all the way down. Instead certain parts of the tooth are more opaque than others.

The Costs of CEREC Crowns

The machines the dentists purchase can set them back six figures. Often they’re making monthly payments of $2,000 to pay towards that debt. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the CEREC crowns will cost much more than their traditional porcelain crown counterparts.

The reason for this is when they use the CEREC machine, they’re not having to pay for a lab to manufacture the crowns. Either way it costs the dentist something. Bear in mind, that each dentist sets their own fees so that won’t be universal.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Dental Implants after Dentures

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I’ve had dentures for quite a few years. I’m getting sick of them. They keep slipping. The last straw was when they fell out as I tried to blow out my birthday candles. Not only was it humiliating but they fell on the cake so there went dessert. Am I too old to switch to dental implants?

Tricia

Dear Tricia,

dentures side by side with a dental implant

I’m sorry for that experience. That must have been very hard for you. The good news is the people who were at your party are people who love you. They likely felt nothing but compassion for you.

Age has nothing to do with whether or not you’re a good candidate for dental implants. If you’re in good health, you should be okay. However, that being said, you’ve had dentures for many years.

The reason they’re sliding and falling out is because your jawbone has shrunken. It will continue to shrink as well. This is known as facial collapse.

You Can Still Get Dental Implants

What you’ll have to do is have an additional procedure done known as bone grafting. This will build back up your jawbone so that you can have implants placed. The bone is imperative because it is what secures the implants.

It will be too expensive for you to get a dental implant for each tooth. Instead, I’m going to recommend you get implant supported dentures. Implant overdentures use about four to six implants that anchor to your denture.

They’ll completely secure them and you’ll not have to worry about any loss of jawbone. The implants are what help preserve them.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.


Dental Implant When Teeth are Falling Out

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I have a problem with my teeth falling out. I want to replace them and am determined to do better with my teeth. I hear dental implants are the best. Can I get those or do I need something else in my situation?

Dan

Dear Dan,

dentures side by side with a dental implant

A lot of what you do next depends on why you are losing your teeth. If it is gum disease, then you won’t be a good candidate for dental implants. Thinking about it logically, if your gums are unable to retain your teeth, they are not going to be able to retain your dental implants.

This means your first goal is getting your gum disease treated. It will require some extra appointments for a while. The good thing this is, once your gums are healthy you’ll then be a candidate for the implants.

Until then, you can get removable partial dentures to help fill in the gaps in your smile. You can do you periodontal treatments at the same time.

Advantages of Dental Implants

  • You will have completely secure teeth again. They’ll never slip or slide around.
  • You’ll be able to eat, drink, brush, and floss anything you want, just as you would with healthy natural teeth.
  • It protects your jaw from facial collapse.

The Danger of Facial Collapse

Before and after facial collapse

When your teeth came out your body recognized that. Usually, the roots of your teeth signal to your body the jawbone is important. When those are no longer there, your body reabsorbs the minerals in your jawbone thinking they would be more useful elsewhere.

As those minerals are put to use in other parts of your body, your jaw begins to shrink. Eventually, you don’t have enough jawbone left to support your dentures.

Fortunately, once you are able to get dental implants, your body recognizes the implants as teeth roots and keeps your jawbone firmly intact.

First priority is to get those gums healthy. It’s great that you are willing to work so diligently on your oral health.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Porcelain Veneers and Gum Disease

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I had a set of porcelain veneers done about 7 months ago. I liked them, but I’ve been having some problems and I’m wondering if the porcelain veneers are why. It didn’t happen until after I got them. It started with the gums feeling sore. I thought that might be because I had new veneers. Then I noticed occasional bleeding when I brushed. I went in for my first checkup since getting them and they’ve said I’m developing gum disease and I need to do a better job brushing. Here’s the thing, I’m pretty fastidious when it comes to brushing and flossing and haven’t changed my habits. That’s especially true because I invested all this money in my veneers and want to keep them clean as well. So, if it isn’t me, is it the veneers? Is this common? Is there a solution?

Brooke

Dear Brooke,

a porcelain veneer being placed

I’m sorry you’re going through this. If your oral hygiene is sound, then something else is going on. Because this started after your porcelain veneers procedure, it is natural to suspect them. However, they do not cause bleeding gums or gum disease. What can do that is the porcelain veneers not being properly placed.

It sounds like your dentist doesn’t understand how to get them flush against the teeth. When this happens, it causes a little shelf between the porcelain veneers and your gums. This is known as bulky margins and is a huge problem for you.

Here’s the thing. when you have that shelf, food and other forms of bacteria get trapped in there. They’re very hard to get out. This leads to decay. It will ruin your porcelain veneers and your teeth. You don’t want to go from a porcelain veneer to a porcelain crown unless you have to.

Get Your Porcelain Veneers Re-Done

This has to be replaced. Fortunately, if you can get another dentist to verify that is the problem, you can get your original dentist to replace them for free. The key to getting a good second opinion though is two-fold.

First, never ever tell them who did the work. Dentists are colleagues and friends. It’s hard to say something negative about a peer. If they don’t know who the dentist is it takes away the feeling of disloyalty. They’re just giving an honest, unbiased opinion.

Second, is don’t tell them what you think it wrong. Just tell them the symptoms and let them make the diagnosis. If it turns out to be bulky margins, he can help you get that refund you need to get this fixed properly.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Dentist Said to Crown Instead of Veneer My Teeth

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I’m really disappointed right now. I’d been looking forward to getting my teeth re-done for a while. I’ve always wanted a pretty smile. I’d been saving up for four years. When I finally was sure I had enough, I went to my dentist. He said porcelain veneers don’t work and what I should get is dental crowns. I don’t want to get those. I have perfectly healthy teeth. Plus, I’ve seen some patients who’ve had crowns at my clinic and I’ve never been impressed with how they’ve looked. It’s not what I was hoping for with my new smile. Do porcelain veneers work?

Lucy

Dear Lucy,

a porcelain veneer being placed
Porcelain veneers are a great option for smile makeovers

Your dentist is wrong. Porcelain veneers work. In fact, they are the go-to procedure when you want a beautiful smile makeover. My suspicion is the reason your dentist is trying to steer you away from this is his lack of experience.

Doing smile makeovers isn’t something taught in dental school. Instead, a dentist needs to invest post-doctoral time studying them. In fact, the best dentists will always keep up with their field. You definitely don’t want a dentist who does the bare minimum of their required continuing education. You want a dentist who is passionate about their field and keeps up with the latest developments.

Getting Your Smile Makeover

If you want a beautiful smile, you’re going to have to go to a different dentist– one who has invested time studying cosmetic dentistry.

The trick here is there isn’t a recognized specialty in cosmetic dentistry, so anyone who calls themselves a cosmetic dentist is simply a general dentist who offers cosmetic services.

So, how do you separate the ones who do a good job from those who just get average (or worse) results? I’d start by looking at their smile gallery. This should be a page on their website which has before and after pictures of cases they’ve done. You may want to call and double check they’re showing cases the dentist has done and not just stock photos, though.

If you don’t like what you see there, move on. If you do like the type of results they get, take one additional step. Check their reviews. It’s always helpful to see what patients who have actually been to their practice think of the experience.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Boss Wants Me to Straighten My Teeth

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My boss called me into his office. He started off by telling me he felt awkward saying this but he thinks I’ll understand in the long run. I was so afraid I was about to be fired. Instead, he said, “I want to give you a big promotion, but you’ll need to straighten and whiten your teeth to get it.” I was puzzled until he explained that I’ll be their Public Relations person as well as a division leader. The PR post would require me doing media interviews, which means I’d need a pretty smile in order to make a positive impression. The money would be super worth any expense. It’s a huge promotion and he was right that I’d completely understand. I want to do this right. What do you suggest?

Madison

Dear Madison,

side by side of a smile with braces and a smile with Invisalign

First, let me say congratulations! What a promotion that is. I’m sure you’re thrilled. You have a couple of great choices to meet your cosmetic goals.

Straighten Your Teeth With Invisalign

Invisalign is a type of invisible orthodontics which is ideal for adults who which to straighten their teeth without a mouth full of metal. They use clear aligners. The image above shows a comparison of someone smiling with both braces and Invisalign. They tend to also work more quickly than braces as well.

If you go this route, the aligners can double as teeth whitening trays allowing you to straighten and whiten your teeth at the same time.

Remake Your Smile with Porcelain Veneers

If you don’t care about straightening your teeth and just want them to look straight, you can get a total smile makeover with porcelain veneers.

These use tiny wafers of porcelain to change the shape, size, and color of your teeth simultaneously. They have two big benefits for you.

  • They will be a faster procedure than Invisalign
  • They can completely change your smile, making it celebrity beautiful almost instantly

Their drawback is they’re much more expensive than the first option I gave you. Either one will give you the smile you need for your promotion.

Best of luck to you and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Store Bought TMJ Device

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I’m in the middle of cancer treatments, which comes with thousands of dollars in medical bills. I think it’s the stress but I suspect I’ve started grinding my teeth again because my TMJ is acting up. When I first had it, the dentist made me this device. I no longer have the device but noticed the stores have something similar that’s a one size fits all. Could I just get that? I don’t have a lot of money right now and I need to deal with this jaw pain.

Harriet

Dear Harriet,

a woman holding her jaw from TMJ pain

First, let me say I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I know several people with cancer and it’s not an easy treatment plan to deal with. You’re in our thoughts. Second, I understand the cost issue. Here’s what I’m going to suggest.

If the absolute only thing you can afford is the store bought mouthguard, get that. It’s better than nothing and will at least protect your teeth from the grinding. However, because of its poor quality, you will grind through it and need to purchase them multiple times until you stop grinding.

However, TMJ devices are a tad different than just a mouth guard. While a mouth guard protects you from grinding, the TMJ device will reposition your jaw to a healthy position if it’s out of alignment. The store-bought device will not do that.

See your dentist to find out if the jaw pain is from the grinding or something to do with alignment. If it’s grinding and you want to stick with the store bought device, go ahead. If it’s alignment, you’ll need professional treatment.

There are insurance policies that will at least cover it partially. If your insurance won’t cover it, you can try Care Credit. It’s a medical credit card that allows you to get the treatment and then pay off the cost in low-interest payments. No-interest plans are also available.

Dental Care and Cancer

Most doctors will let you know this, but it is extremely important you keep up your regular dental care during your cancer treatments. Chemo and radiation play havoc on teeth. You’ll have unexpected cavities, even if you’ve never had any before if you don’t get regular treatment.

A small bit of prevention will protect you from needing dental crowns or worse.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Same Day Crown Disaster

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I have four crowns. One of them failed due to age. So I needed to get that re-done. The old crowns were done by a different dentist. The new dentist prefers to do same day crowns. I thought it would be great because I wouldn’t need a temporary and two appointments. I wish I hadn’t though. It looks awful. It’s obviously a fake tooth compared to the rest and one of the ones next to it is a crown as well. It that because it is a same day crown?

Deleth

Dear Deleth,

Block of porcelain for a CEREC restoration

Same day crowns are milled from a block of porcelain

Same day crowns (sometimes called CEREC crowns) are great restorations. If your crown looks fake, unless it is a very front tooth, it is not because it’s a CEREC crown.

The more likely problem is the dentist. Creating the look of a tooth is an art form. It is very likely your first dentist, who originally did your crowns, has a more artistic eye than your new dentist. There are many different skill levels when it comes to creating beautiful work.

You can ask him to re-do the crown to see if you get better results, however, if the problem is his skill, I doubt you’ll get any better results. My suggestion is you ask for a refund and try a different dentist.

Same Day Crowns On a Front Tooth

Above, I mentioned an exception to the problem being a same day crown. If it was on one of your very front teeth, that could explain it looking fake compared to the rest. CEREC crowns are milled from a single block of porcelain, which would look pretty uniform.

Our teeth aren’t uniform. Instead, they have varied subtleties and parts of it are more translucent than others. If you’ve got a uniform tooth next to a varied one, then it is going to look fake.

Because of this, most dentists prefer to use traditional all-porcelain crowns. They are made from several different blocks of porcelain in order to mimic the differences in your teeth.

The exception to everything I just said is if you go to one of the top 1% of dentists who will use color changes in the porcelain to mimic the variations. But, even they will need several try-ins before getting things exactly so.

This blog is brought to you by Marietta cosmetic dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Dental Implant Won’t Whiten

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I had an empty spot because of a lost tooth for some time. I came into some money and finally replaced it with a dental implant. It made my smile look much more attractive. I was inspired and decided to go one further and whiten my teeth. I’ve been doing the bleach with trays my dentist made for me. My teeth are whitening, but not the dental implant. Does that take longer or does it need a different formula?

Lorraine

Dear Lorraine,

An image of a dental implant crown being placed in three stages

I’m thrilled you are enjoying having your smile back. You’ve chosen a fantastic tooth replacement as well. In fact, a dental implant is the top-of-the-line in tooth replacement options. It’s like having a healthy natural tooth back.

The dental crown, which goes on top, can be made to any color you want. Unfortunately, once it’s color is baked on, it is permanent. The color doesn’t change. Your dentist should have warned you about that when you told him (or her) that you wanted to whiten your teeth.

It’s not just dental implants. When you bleach your teeth, the bleaching gel will only work on natural tooth structure. In order to get it to match the new white color of your teeth, it will have to be redone. Fortunately, it’s only the crown which will need to be redone, not the implant itself. That means it won’t cost you nearly as much.

What Type of Crown Should You Get?

I don’t know what type of crown your dentist provided for you. I hope it was an all-porcelain crown. If not, this is the perfect opportunity to get the “right” one. If it’s visible when you smile, the all-porcelain crowns look completely natural and reflect light the same way your natural teeth do.

If he gave you a metal-based crown, then you’ll end up with something much more opaque then you’d want. Plus, they always end up with a gray line showing up at your gumline, which will be very unattractive. The all-porcelain crowns never do that.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

My Porcelain Veneers Make me Look Like Bugs Bunny

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I don’t know what to do. I think I made a mistake begging my dentist to give me porcelain veneers. I could tell he wasn’t keen but I felt desperate to get a smile which didn’t bother me. My teeth are short and stubby. I wanted to make them longer. Now they’re way too long and bulky. I honestly feel like bugs bunny. Can this be fixed?

Samantha

Dear Samantha,

a porcelain veneer being placed

In every profession, including dentistry, there are different strengths and weaknesses with each person. For some dentists, they prefer to focus on the general dentistry aspects of keeping teeth healthy and repairing them when they aren’t. Others invest time in learning cosmetic skills.

However, even among those who like to do cosmetic work, there are different levels of artistry. No two dentists smile makeovers will turn out the same.

It sounds like your dentist prefers the general work, but deferred to your desire for longer teeth. His heart was in the right place but he didn’t have the skill set needed to make it work.

My guess is, because you said they looked bulky on top of too long, your dentist tried to do it with Lumineers. This is a brand of porcelain veneers which tends to be highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place.

Unfortunately, without the proper tooth preparation (which they tell the dentists isn’t necessary) the results tend to be bulky.

Fixing Badly Done Porcelain Veneers

Once dental work is bonded on, it’s permanently on. The only way to “fix” them is to have them redone. Now, you choose the correct solution to your problem. Porcelain veneers will absolutely give you the smile of your dreams. However, to truly get that smile, it will have to be through a different dentist.

Your dentist tried. He likely tried his best. But, if cosmetic dentistry isn’t his thing, his best will never be enough to give your smile the right results. It doesn’t mean you have to switch dentists. You’ll just have to see a different dentist for cosmetic work than your normal dental work.

Look up some cosmetic dentists in your area. Make sure they have post-doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry. You can do that by looking on their website or just calling their office and asking. After that, check out their smile gallery. Are the smile makeovers they’ve posted on there gorgeous? Would you be excited if that were your smile? If not, look at a different dentist.

The final step will be to check their reviews. What type of experience did other patients who’ve used their office have? Were they satisfied? From there, schedule a consultation. We offer, here at Cheek Dental in Marietta, a complimentary remote consultation.

Best of luck to you.
This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.