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,

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.