I am embarrassed to admit that I answered an ad for an affordable dentist for a crown procedure at a reduced rate. The dentist claimed he recently got a machine that would make the crowns in-house. He wanted some patients with whom he could try out his machine. I’ve been in need of a crown procedure for quite some time, but couldn’t afford the cost I’d been quoted from other dentists. The low cost appealed to me and I answered the ad. During the five hours I was in his office the dentist had several issues with his machine, not to mention the crowns would not fit right. After he made some adjustments with my tooth, and the machine, the crown finally fit.
This procedure took place two days ago and my entire mouth is in pain, in particular, my tooth. Is it possible that the dentist caused permanent damage? If so, will I have to eat the cost, since he disclosed that this was a learning procedure up front?
Thank you,
Jason
Dear Jason,
You’ve had quite the experience. Regardless, you should be sure the dentist knows you are in pain. When teeth are manipulated as much as yours were, they experience irritation. If it’s just a basic irritation, the pain should subside in a few days. An over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen, should help you with the pain.
If the pain does not subside and improve on its own, it could mean the decay grew, in which case you would need a root canal as soon as possible. This could also be the case if your tooth experienced trauma during the procedure.
Regardless of the dentist claiming to be an affordable dentist, or saying that he was using the procedure to learn, he is responsible. If he is an ethical dental professional, he will want to be aware of the problems you are experiencing and fix them. If he refuses to fix the situation, you will need to see another dental professional about the issues you are having.
For future dental procedures, you may want to seek out dentists who provide quality care, and then look for financing options that fit into your budget, like spreading out treatment costs, utilizing insurance benefits, or financing treatment.
Good luck to you!
This blog post is provided by Phoenix affordable dentist, Dr. Hillary Peck.
This is the option your dentist mentioned. It is at the top of the line, the ideal option. In fact, it’s a lot like having your natural tooth back (when it was healthy). The downsides are the cost and the fact that it requires surgery. The surgery is actually its benefit too. It implants a root form into your jawbone which protects you from losing essential bone structure. Click here to 
This is a second good option. It suspends a false tooth between two dental crowns. The downside is it does remove tooth structure from the adjacent teeth to make room for the crown. This makes more sense if those teeth already need crowns. Then you’re getting two for the price of one. The upside is it’s less expensive. Click here to 
This is my least favorite option, but sometimes it’s all a patient can afford, so I help them make the best of it. It just uses a partial denture and clamps to your teeth. There are various types of clamps, all of which come with ups and downs, as well as varying price tags. Your dentist is obligated to tell you about them if you decide to go that route. The obvious downside to these is they’re not fixed in your mouth and can move around. Plus they put pressure on the teeth to which they’re clamped.