I had braces in my younger years and always thought my bite was fine. I’m now a 40+ year old professional and my dentist said my bite is “off” and he wants to fix it by crowning all of my teeth. I am not too keen on the idea of capping a bunch of healthy teeth. Are there other options?
Adrian
Dear Adrian,
I am very glad you wrote. I’m concerned about your dentist’s diagnosis and treatment recommendation. Did you go in because you were in serious pain or did he just say your bite was off without you asking about it? The thing is, everyone’s bite is off to some extent or another.
A full mouth reconstruction, which is what crowning all of your teeth is called, is a major reconstruction. The only reason to do that is if you were dealing with major functional problems. You didn’t mention that. In fact, you started by saying you thought your bite was fine. A full-mouth reconstruction will cost you upwards of $30,000 or more. Not to mention the danger of your dentist doing it wrong and causing serious problems.
A serious bite problem can lead to TMJ disorder and this is my concern here. You don’t seem to have any reason to need this treatment. Yet, your dentist is suggesting it. It’s quite invasive and takes very advanced training. Going to dental school is not enough to do this properly. I would only allow a dentist with a significant amount of post-doctoral training in TMJ and Occlusion to do this procedure.
Before you step into this, I would suggest getting a second opinion from a dentist with this training. Look for someone who has studied at the Pankey Institute or the Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Dental Studies. Then, if you do need it, you will have a dentist who can do it without completely destroying your bite.
To be honest, I don’t think you are going to need this at all. Let’s say you are developing a TMJ issue. There are much less invasive options before you have to jump to the reconstruction option.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.
