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Is It Normal for Porcelain Veneers to Fall Off?

Posted by Annmarie SanSevero

I have been living a porcelain veneers nightmare for the last three years. My teeth weren’t horrible. They weren’t perfect either. However, my dentist said that I needed the veneers because of how I clench my teeth. I went ahead and did it. She ground down eight of my front teeth and put me in temporary veneers for close to two weeks. Then, I got the permanent ones. The problem I’ve been having is some of them keep popping off. It’s not something I’m doing, but my dentist wonders if it has to do with my clenching. While I am glad she puts those back on for free, it’s been a pretty frequent occurrence, which is rather inconvenient for life. One thing I’ve noticed is that the veneers that do this have a bit of a ledge on the back. I’m being very careful what I eat, but I’m not sure that this matters. The last one popped off while I was eating a banana. I’m at my wit’s end. Do you have any recommendations for me? Another question I have is whether it is necessary to take an Ativan the night before the appointment. It honestly knocks me out the entire day and I have like no memory of anything.

Anne


Dear Anne,

Porcelain veneer versus dental crown prep on teeth.

The first thing I am going to say is that your dentist did not give you porcelain veneers. They gave you dental crowns. If you look at the picture above, you can see the difference in tooth prep between dental crowns and porcelain veneers. You mentioned that they ground down the teeth. That doesn’t happen with porcelain veneers.

Sometimes dentists who are not skilled with cosmetic dentistry will steer patients toward dental crowns because those are taught to everyone in dental school. However, they tell them they’re getting crowns. They don’t lie about it. Your dentist apparently can’t even get basic dental crowns right.

A second issue is you mentioned the backs of those that are popping off were more slanted. There are not backs on porcelain veneers, just crowns. It’s possible your dentist over contoured those.

As for the Ativan, not only is it not necessary, it is inappropriate. We don’t generally do dental sedation with cosmetic work because then the patient is not lucid enough to approve the work. If you had an anxious patient, then you could give them nitrous plus Novocain, both of which will allow you to be lucid while dealing with your anxiety.

Let’s say for arguments sake that a patient requested oral conscious sedation, which it does not sound like you did. Second, Ativan isn’t the right choice. Ativan has a serum half-life of about 24 hours. It can take a couple of days for it to be eliminated. For oral conscious sedation, most dentists use triazolam, which has a serum half-life of about three hours.

It sounds to me like your dentist isn’t the right one for cosmetic dentistry. I want you to get a refund. You could probably file a malpractice suit, but those take time and money. I would ask for a complete refund and then have the work done by an expert cosmetic dentist. The best cosmetic dentists are AACD accredited. That’s what I would look for in your case.

This blog is brought to you by Franklin, TN Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Christopher Weber.

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