Thursday, August 5, 2010

Dental Disaster, continued

So I finally got a call to come in and get my new, permanent crowns fixed to my front teeth. After a month of living with two and a half weeks of wearing a hideous temporary and trying not to open my mouth, then a week and a half of an ugly temporary that looked vaguely reminiscent of the McDonald's arches, I was ready for my teeth to be fixed. Finally. Permanently. Or not...

I went in to the office and they removed the temps, then tried on the new crowns. When I saw them, I was lying down in a dentist's chair and trying to keep them from falling out because they had so far not been cemented in. They looked a bit large, and didn't seem to line up evenly along the bottom-- but the dentist said that would all be taken care of once the teeth were cemented into place. And, like the sucker I am, I believed her. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Not only do the teeth not line up, but they are shaped so strangely that I can hardly stand to open my mouth for fear of people noticing how ugly my teeth are.

Here's the photographic proof. My original smile, with the veneers attached by Dr. Leon-Guerrero in 2004:
teeth-with-veneers_03-13-10

And my current look, provided oh so generously by Standiford Family Dental on 8/4/10:
teeth-with-bridges_08-04-10

Here are the issues:
- The two teeth don't line up along the bottom, and are tilted at a weird angle
- One tooth juts out and actually overlaps the other tooth a little bit
- The left tooth has such a large lump of porcelain in the back that when I talk, it sounds like I'm wearing a retainer-- the "s" is very sibilant, almost a lisp
- There are gaps between my front teeth and on each side large enough to see through (and blow air through, how cool is that?)
- The bottoms of both teeth have a line of thinner porcelain along the edge
- The left tooth appears whiter/more dense than the other tooth
- Both teeth are significantly larger, and shaped like oars-- narrower at the top and fanning out into a larger, spade-like shape on the bottom

What the heck, people?! I swear, I can't wait to NOT be poor anymore, to have insurance, to be able to hold my head up high and be treated like someone who deserves common courtesy and respect instead of disregarded just because I don't have money and health coverage. UGH!

1 comment:

  1. Oh Melanie...I'm so sorry about that. You're still a beautiful person, but the dentist did NOT do a good job in matching the color and shape of your original front teeth. I'm like you....what the heck?! Can't she redo it for you? Again...not to make you feel weird...cause you're still my beautiful niece!!! But I would not be happy either. Seems like you have proof positive with these pictures the she didn't do a good job. I'd go back and complain. Love you anyway!!!!! :o)

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