My son broke a large chunk off a tooth. It’s a front adult tooth, so I wanted a fantastic repair. He’s only 11 and children can be cruel. I suggested a porcelain veneer and he practically laughed at me. I don’t know if it’s because my son is eleven or if there’s some other reason and he didn’t bother explaining which annoyed me. Even if he changed his mind, I’m not sure I’d let him at this point. Is there a real reason not to do a porcelain veneer? If not, what should I do?
Lucy
Dear Lucy,
I appreciate your tenacity in making sure your son gets the best treatment possible. It’s obvious you’re a good momma. On the other side of the coin, your dentist lacks some serious chairside manner and he should have explained his reasoning. He also should have given you viable alternatives. Clearly, he’s missing some sort of sensitivity chip.
While he was insensitive, he’s actually right about not using a porcelain veneer to fix this. Your son is still growing which includes his jaw and bite. This means his teeth are in an almost constant state of flux. You’d have to re-do this veneer, which is an expensive procedure several times.
One thing I want to be certain of is that your dentist did more than ignore your request. Whenever there is trauma to a tooth it needs to be examined carefully to make sure the pulp of the tooth wasn’t negatively impacted. If he hasn’t done that, you may want to go to another dentist for an emergency dental appointment, explaining your encounter with your dentist, along with his negligence. They should be willing to see your son.
An Alternative to Porcelain Veneers for Chipped Teeth
Honestly, I wouldn’t even recommend porcelain veneers for an adult chipped tooth. It seems to be an expensive overtreatment, with the exception of if they wanted a smile makeover anyway. In that case, it would make sense.
When someone has a chipped tooth or a small gap between their teeth, my recommendation would be to build up the tooth with dental bonding. This uses a composite resin to sculpt the missing part of your son’s tooth. Under the artistic eye and hands of a skilled cosmetic dentist, it will blend right in with his natural tooth structure and look completely natural.
This blog is brought to you by Dr. Michael Morgan.
The post Dentist Refused Porcelain Veneer for Broken Tooth appeared first on Downers Grove Cosmetic Dentist.
