My daughter, who is eleven years old, had a accident. The result was that it broke out the middle of the tooth where it looks like she has an empty picture frame with some pieces missing. Our family dentist suggested to repair it with dental bonding. The bonding was horrible. It’s uneven to the point of being lumpy. It’s also too short. I don’t know what to do. She’s devastated and I don’t blame her. Is there a way to fix this?
Amanda
Dear Amanda,
I’m sorry this happened to your daughter. I know she is distressed. As you can see from the image above, dental bonding can be done beautifully as well as blend naturally to the remainder of the tooth structure.
The good news is that this can be fixed. However, it will require a different dentist. Dental bonding is an advanced cosmetic dentistry procedure that has to be done freehand. Very few family dentists invest in the post-doctoral training necessary to do cosmetic bonding. They have some bonding experience from fillings, but that does not qualify them for what your daughter needs.
More good news. I’m relieved that your dentist did not recommend dental crowns for your daughter. Many inexperienced cosmetic dentists would have done that. However, the pulp of a child your daughter’s age is very large. Doing a crown on them would likely kill the pulp and require a root canal treatment. Secondly, the tooth is still erupting. that means the margin would be exposed not only making it obvious she’s wearing a crown but put her at risk for decay.
My suggestion is that you ask for a refund on the bonding. Hopefully, he has the integrity to realize his work was subpar and not want to damage the self-esteem of a child. Then, you need to look for a dentist who has invested in post-doctoral cosmetic training. As an added precaution, I would recommend that you also take a peek at their smile gallery. You want to see what type of results they get with their work. If you don’t love it, find someone else. If they don’t have a smile gallery, then they do not do enough cosmetic work for you to even consider them.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.