Monthly Archives: December 2021

Dental implants

My Bite Doesn’t Line Up After My Implant Bridge

I had a bridge made with two dental implants that replaced four teeth. The weird thing is when I bite down one side of my mouth, my bite reaches my teeth (on the left), but the other side of my bite isn’t touching. I hope that makes sense. It feels weird to me and I wonder if it is supposed to be like that. I went to two doctors to have this done. First an oral surgeon. When he was done with the implants, he referred me to a dentist for the implant crowns. I’m not sure which doctor I would even go to if something is wrong.

Jan

Dear Jan,

dental implant illustration

It would be hard to tell you exactly what is wrong without examining you, but I do have some advice. First, this isn’t normal. Your bite should line up on both side at the same time. This is important to fix or it will lead to TMJ Disorder.

One thing that concerns me the most is that you said the surgeon decided on the placement of the dental implants and you didn’t see the restorative dentist until after that was done.

It is standard practice and an established principle of implant dentistry for the restorative dentist to be the one to determine the placement of the implants, NOT the surgeon. He violated the standard of care here.

I am going to recommend you see an expert implant dentist. Have them look at your implants and if they tell you they were placed incorrectly, you will need to have them redone. The good news with that is your oral surgeon will be liable for this repair.

However, do not just ask for a refund. As a result of removing the implants you will need some bone grafting done too, so instead he needs to pay the cost of redoing the case, including the grafting.

One tip when getting this opinion. Do not tell them who the surgeon or the dentist was. The dental world is a small one and they probably know one another. Instead, just tell him you want an unbiased opinion on what is wrong with your dental implants.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.

Pediatric Dentistry

Child Restraints in Dental Care

I just read an article online about a dentist who was strapping down children during their dental appointments. Is this a common practice? It seems pretty barbaric to me, especially in this day and age. I don’t have children myself. I’m just curious.

Len

Dear Len,

I wish I new the article you were talking about. There are a couple of kinds of legitimate restraints that are used in pediatric dental care, but without seeing the article I can’t tell you if that was one of them. What I can tell you is what is commonly used and why.

Mouth props used in dental care

The first type of restraint is pictured above. These are mouth props and are designed to prevent patients, including children from closing their mouth or biting down during a procedure. This is for their protection as much as the dentists.

I have a colleague who, while attending dental school was observing a classmate perform a filling on a child. He did not use a mouth restraint and, at some point, the child bit down which caused the drill to go into her jaw. He told me he never forgot that and has always used a mouth restraint ever since.

Papoose board

Another type of restraint is called a papoose board. These are not as commonly used. In fact, most dentists that I know only use them in the most serious of circumstances.

A good pediatric dentist knows how to put most children at ease. Every once in a while, however, you get a child whose fear causes them to get out of control. In some cases, using just a little nitrous oxide helps. But, if you have a child with a dental emergency and they are completely uncooperative a papoose board can save them.

Almost every dentist I know that has had to use one, said the moment the child was wrapped in the board, it helped them feel more secure and they calmed down enough to get the work done they desperately needed.

I hope this helps clear some things up. It’s great that you care about kids.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.