Can you help me? I’m at my wit’s end with these porcelain veneers. My dentist suggested I get some porcelain veneers to fix some of the defects in my smile. Plus, I grind my teeth so she thought that would protect them. I don’t know what goes on at these appointments because she gives me ativan before them and my husband says I’m out for almost two days afterward. The problem I am having is that these porcealin veneers keeping popping off and then I’m left with a tiny, dark nub underneath. I go back in and she rebonds them on, but then eventually they fall off again.She says it is because I’m gringing my teeth, but I always wear the nightguard she had me purchase. Plus, weren’t these supposed to protect my teeth from that? Is this normal or is something else going on?
Dinah
Dear Dinah,
I am sorry this has happened to you. In fact, I would say you have a cosmetic dentistry horror story. I hate to tell this to you but your dentist did not give you porcelain veneers. She gave you dental crowns. Above I posted a picture of the tooth preparation for both porcelain veneers as well as dental crowns. As you can see, with the veneers there is hardly any structure removed. You described your teeth ground down to little nubs, which sounds more like the preparation for dental crowns.
Some dentists, who do not know how to do porcelain veneers very well will steer their patients toward crowns. Unless there was a huge misunderstanding, it sounds like your dentist just lied. While cosmetic procedures such as porcelain veneers requires a dentist to take a significant number of post-doctoral classes to do it well, dental crowns are one of the first things taught in dental school.
In addition to the deception, there are a couple of other things that bother me about your case. First, is the fact that she seems unable to get the dental crowns right. They should not be popping off. In fact, most dentists never have a crown they’ve done fall off. This makes me question even her basic skills. Second, unless you’ve requested dental sedation, she should not be giving you Ativan. Even if you did request dental sedation, Ativan is overkill. The half-life of Ativan is 24 hours, which means you still have half the drug in your system after a full day. Most dentists would use Triazolam which has a half life of just three hours. This is why you’re conked out for two days. Why would she need you that incoherent?
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.