I am worried about how my dental treatment is going. My dentist needed to fix my bite and he was doing it with a combination of crowns, bridges, and one dental implant. Ever since this started things have gone downhill. On the right side of my mouth my teeth do not come together. When my dentist tried to fix it, things got worse. I started having a hard time chewing. Each new addition made the situation worse. I told him I didn’t think something was right and he assured me that he’d done everything correctly. When I mentioned that I would like to get a second opinion, he seemed to take it okay and even gave me the name of a colleague to see for a second opinion. In retrospect, I wonder if that was a mistake. At my second opinion appointment he just kept talking about what a great dentist mine is and how I should trust him to know what he is doing. He barely examined my mouth. Am I crazy? It just feels like my mouth is off and I’m even having trouble chewing food. I can only eat on one side of my mouth because the other side doesn’t meet and everything hurts.
Benjamin
Dear Benjamin,
You are not crazy. Occlusion is how your teeth meet up with one another and it is very important. Your teeth have all types of bumps and ridges that need to be worked around. Plus, the side to side motion of your temporomandibular joint. If your teeth are not touching on one side of your mouth then there is a serious problem. You could end up with TMJ Disorder.
It sounds like your dentist was doing a full-mouth reconstruction. This is one of the most advanced procedures in dentistry and it requires a significant amount of post-doctoral study. This is the type of dentist you need to work on your case. Despite what your dentist and his colleague that gave you this second opinion said, something is off. You shouldn’t be in pain and both sides of your mouth should meet.
What you need is a third opinion. This time I want you to do it differently. First, you want to find a dentist with advanced TMJ Training. When you go, it needs to be a blind second/third option. This means you will NOT tell them who your dentist is. If they ask, explain you want an unbiased opinion before he knows anything about who did the work. He or she should not have a problem with that.
If the situation is as bad as I think, you will be entitled to a full refund and will be able to get it done properly elsewhere.
This blog is brought to you by La Jolla Dentist Dr. Marie Moekel.