Should Porcelain Veneers Pop Off?
My whole porcelain veneers experience was a disaster. I thought that it would not change my teeth too much, but he ground them down from little nubs. They did look a bit better, but they don’t stay in. At least one of them pops off every few days. My dentist always puts them back in but every time, including when I first got them in, she has me take this pill which knocks me out for almost an entire day. I’ve gotten to the point where I am afraid to go anywhere because I can have a veneer pop off during my outing. This can’t be normal. Oh, also, there’s always this terrible smell right before they pop off. I promise I’m brushing.
Angela
Dear Angela,
No, this isn’t normal. In fact, based on what you described, I think you have a good case for a malpractice suit. First, I don’t believe your dentist provided you with porcelain veneers. You said that your dentist ground your teeth down to nubs. This doesn’t happen with veneers. It sounds like your dentist provided you with dental crowns. That is a misrepresentation of your procedure.
I’ve posted above an image that shows the type of tooth prep that you would get with each type of restoration. Crowns require the entire tooth to be ground down in order to fit it around the tooth. It’s a 360-degree restoration. Porcelain veneers, on the other hand, only require a small amount of shaving from the tooth, about the depth of a fingernail. This is because veneers are small porcelain wafers that bond onto the front of the tooth.
Now, you are stuck with dental crowns and there are limits to what you can do to fix this. Plus, you’ve lost a lot of natural tooth structure as a result.
A second issue is the crowns constantly popping off. This should not be happening and means that your crown preparation is lacking proper retention form. A crown done properly can stay in with basic dental cement. It doesn’t require any advanced bonding technology.
Porcelain veneers are an advanced cosmetic procedure which requires significant post doctoral training, which may be why she gave you crowns instead. However, dental crowns are one of the first things dentists are taught in dental school. There is no reason why she shouldn’t be able to do them well enough to at least stay in. Most dentists go their entire career without having even one crown fall out, let alone the number you’ve suffered.
The smell you’re experiencing is bacteria getting in the crown when it becomes loose. This isn’t your fault.
Finally, it sounds like your dentist is giving you oral conscious sedation. Did you ask for that because you have dental anxiety? If not, she shouldn’t be giving it to you. Plus, using it just to re-bond on a crown is a gross over treatment.
As I mentioned, you have a good malpractice case here. Your dentist should pay for you to have these fixed by a dentist of your own choosing, plus I think she should be liable for the extra damage done to your teeth by grinding them down so much. Hopefully, she will have the integrity to set this right without you having to go to court. If not, you have a good case and likely will get some compensation beyond just fixing this.
When you choose the dentist to repair this, I’m going to highly suggest you look for an AACD accredited dentist. These are the top cosmetic dentists in the country. If you can find a fellow (FAACD), that is even better.
This blog is brought to you by a compassionate dentist in Cincinnati, Dr. Fred Peck.