Crowned...

I've probably been to 8 or 9 dentists in the last decade. My preference is someone with a small practice. One guy in his 60's was in business at least 30 of those years with 2 chairs. Him and the hygienist. I tried a few times and was unhappy with his work. Searching the insurance list of available dentists, I selected one in large office that appears to be part of a corporate franchise with several locations. 6 chairs and lots of people flying around the open corral. I tried a dental college and several chairs in one room appears to be normal.

Covid-19 comes around and I postponed cleaning a few times. I had a piece of filling and tooth chip off a molar months ago and needed to have that resolved before infection gets in and a root canal specialist would be added to my list. December and I need to use use insurance benefits this calendar year.

Earlier this month, I had the tooth prepped and the mold sent to the lab for a crown. Yesterday, I returned for the second part.

With all the previous dentists, they do a similar casting and then cover the tooth with a temporary -- I'll call it a temporary, but mostly it's a soft pliable material they form over the tooth like putty or bubble gum and in a few minutes it hardens. When the crown comes from the lab they have several tries of grinding and fitting before the final step of gluing it in place. Usually after it's in they test for 'bite' and have to grind down a few high spots. I used to think this was normal.

The dentist I'm using now did 2 crowns for me over a year ago and they went in perfectly. Yesterday was the same. The temporary was a copy of the crown so the fit and feel was like a normal tooth. The assistant tested the crown and it clicked into place. The dentist didn't need to grind or reshape anything.

This dentist is on a whole new level compared to the previous ones.. old or new.

She said, not to chew on that side for at least an hour and most likely there will be a little sensitivity for a few days. Yesterday, there was some throbbing and pain from cold drinks. Aspirin took care of that. Today it's barely noticeable. When I run my tongue over the new crown it feels like a normal tooth.

Bravo!



I have to laugh as I once had a dentist name Bravo.