Don’t Let a Dentist Talk You Into 360 Veneers

Posted by writeradmin

I am a bit confused by my smile makeover. My dentist told me he was giving me 360 wrap around veneers. I was a little worried that would mean he’d grind down my teeth but he told me there would hardly be any tooth structure gone. While getting the temporaries, they kept falling out but the dentist assured me that wouldn’t happen once the permanent ones were in, but guess what? I’ve had them in for two weeks and I’ve had three different ones fall out. On top of that, my teeth where they placed them are little nubs. So, there are two things they lied to me about. I am at my wit’s end with this experience and don’t know what to do.

Emily

Dear Emily,

I am sorry this happened to you. Being gracious, I am going to say that you have an ethically challenged dentist. Being blunt, I’m going to say you have a deceitful dentist and need to get a new one rather quickly. There is no such thing as 360-degree veneers. What your dentist gave you were dental crowns. Calling them veneers was unethical at the least.

Also, telling you that he would not have to grind your teeth down was an outright lie. When teeth are prepared for porcelain veneers, only about a fingernail’s depth of your teeth will need to be removed, as illustrated in the image below. This is because porcelain veneers, no matter the brand, only wrap around the front of your teeth.

 

When it comes to dental crowns, however, they have to wrap around the entire tooth– hence the 360 degrees. As a result, a great deal more tooth structure has to be removed in order to make room for them, as you will see from the next image posted below.

 

Unethical AND Incompetent

Not only is your dentist unethical, I hate to say it but he seems incompetent as well. Most dentists who ethically try to persuade a patient into crowns instead of veneers do so because they are not comfortable placing porcelain veneers. They are an advanced cosmetic procedure which does require some post-doctoral training. Dental crowns, on the other hand, are one of the first things a dentist learns how to do in dental school.

It appears that your dentist was not even capable of doing dental crowns correctly. Most dentists go their entire careers without having a dental crown fall out. Your dentist cannot seem to keep them in.

Where to Go From Here

I am going to suggest you ask him to pay for your entire smile makeover to be redone. He could lose his license for misleading you about your procedure. I think deep down he knows that. Let him know that as long as he pays for this to be repaired, you won’t talk to the dental board. Unfortunately, once you have dental crowns you are stuck with dental crowns. But, with a different dentist, at least you can get the beautiful smile you planned on getting.

This blog is brought to you by Mt. Dora Dentist Dr. Michelle Stillman.