Tag Archives: cosmetic dentistry horror stories

Porcelain Veneers

My New Teeth Keep Popping Off

For our anniversary, my husband told me I could get a smile makeover. I’ve dreamt of one for several years. My teeth are chipped here and there, stained, and I have a few that are shorter than the others because of teeth grinding.

My dentist ground my natural teeth down to tiny yellow nubs and gave me temporary veneers. Then, my permanent ones came in. All totaled I have eight veneers. They look okay. Certainly at least whiter than my old teeth. The big problem I am facing is they keep popping off.

While she always puts them back on for me, I am living in constant fear of being humiliated in public. This week, two fell off while I was eating bread at a restaurant with a friend. I spent the entire rest of the day crying from the shame. It is always the veneers that have a slant on the back that seem to come off.

My dentist is blaming it on my teeth grinding, but I wear a nightguard for that, which I was told would protect both my natural teeth and my veneers. What do I do now? We’re a military family and about to get transferred to another base in the states. I’m afraid no dentist will want to deal with my freakish nub mouth. What do I do? I thought this would be a wonderful experience and it has turned out to be a nightmare.

Angie

Dear Angie,

This is a cosmetic denistry horror story for the books. I am so sorry that this was your experience. I believe this dentist has committed malpractice. First, I’ll tell you why and then we’ll go over what you can do about it.

The first thing you should know is that she did not give you porcelain veneers. What she provided was dental crowns and called them porcelain veneers. This is unethical. Here is how I know this.

Image of teeth prepared for porcelain veneers
Tooth preparation for porcelain veneers

When your teeth are prepared for porcelain veneers only a small layer on the front of the teeth is removed. Directly above I posted an image showing what this type of tooth preparation looks like. This is not what you described.

Image of tooth preparation for dental crowns
Tooth preparation for dental crowns.

Instead, I think your teeth look more like what you see in this picture– little nubs. This means she gave you porcelain crowns. Unfortunately, once that tooth structure is gone, there is no way to get it back. This weakens your teeth and makes them more susceptible to breaking later down the road.

Second, she hasn’t been able to bond your dental crowns on properly. While there are a number of dentists who would not know how to properly bond porcelain veneers, every dentist has been taught how to place and bond a dental crown. The fact that she can’t keep yours in shows a serious lack of basic skills. It also violates the basic standard of care.

Your dentist is legally liable for the damage done to your teeth. I don’t want you to just ask for a refund. Instead, I believe she needs to pay to have this repaired properly. I want you to find an expert cosmetic dentist in your new area and have them repair your smile makeover. When y ou get to your new base. Look up on mynewsmile.com to see which cosmetic dentists they recommend in your area.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.

Porcelain Veneers

I swallowed a porcelain veneer

I’ve spent quite a bit of money getting a full-mouth smile makeover with porcelain veneers. I feel it has been a disaster since they were placed. First, while all of them seem bulky, one side of my mouth is significantly bulkier than the other which makes it look like two different smiles in my mouth. Second, you can see my natural teeth at the edges of the porcelain veneers. Third, they keep coming off, which forces me to rush to the dentist’s office to get them placed back on. Finally, yesterday, one came off while I was eating and I think I swallowed it. Can this be fixed?

Megan

Dear Megan,

A single porcelain veneer being placed on a tooth

What a disaster. It seems to me like your dentist doesn’t understand even the most basic of cosmetic work, bonding the materials. If your dentist had bonded your porcelain veneers on correctly, you would never have to go back and have it re-bonded on, let alone swallow one.

Based on all the issues you’ve mentioned with your smile makeover, my guess is they never let you get a good look at your new smile before they permanently bonded them on? Given that you were paying to have a beautiful smile, they should have allowed you to give the okay to the porcelain veneers before bonding them.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a recognized specialty in cosmetic dental care, which makes it extremely difficult for patients to know who can create a beautiful smile and who cannot. The dentist you went to obviously can’t. There are too many errors in your smile makeover to go over all of them, but two, in particular, entitle you to a refund, which will allow you to get this redone properly by a qualified dentist.

Mistakes Your Dentist Made with Your Porcelain Veneers

The standard for cosmetic work, sadly, is determined on whether or not your smile is functional. Fortunately, (if you can call it that) yours isn’t.

First , you have the bonding issue. If the porcelain veneers haven’t been staying on, the smile makeover isn’t functional.

Second, the margins. You said you can see your teeth from “underneath” at the edges. This means your dentist didn’t get the veneers flush against your teeth, nor did he go as far as he should have.

This creates a little shelf, where food and other types of bacteria can get trapped, leading to decay. So, he put the health of your teeth at risk with the poor way he did your case.

Tell him you want a refund.

Getting a Beautiful Smile ‘Makeover

Once you’ve secured your refund, it is time to get back on the horse. I would have an AACD accredited dentist be the one to do your smile makeover.

In order to become accredited, they had to pass stringent exams in order to show they have the technical knowledge about their field. Secondly, they also have to provide a large number of pictures, both before and after, which show what type of beautiful results they get.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. Mike Malone.