Hi EsthersDoll,
I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.
First and most importantly... do not wait to have this crown removed and the tooth evaluated. If the tooth is healthy then a new crown should be made. There is a good chance that the tooth has some decay and you may be developing a pocket in the area where the food gets trapped. If you wait, the tooth will become infected.
Secondly, most insurance policies will cover the cost of a replacement crown after a specific amount of time. In your case it is 5 years. I understand that you were dealing with health problems, but if you had gone back to the original dentist within a couple of weeks or even months after the placement of the crown complaining about food getting trapped and he did not redo the crown free of charge... then you would be able to submit a written request to the insurance that included that information asking for a reconsideration of benefits to replace this ill fitting crown. However, after a year, the insurance is most likely not going to do much for you
As for the second dentist making the statement... <<the distal margin of the crown not being sealed>>.... this could mean that on the x-ray there appears to be an opening along the distal margin. However, that could be decay or a ill fitting margin. The fact that you are getting food trapped and the area is painful means the only way to properly diagnose the problem... the crown needs to be removed. Irrelevant of what the opening is, the crown needs to be re done before the bacteria destroys tooth structure and bone.
Have you contacted the dentist who did the crown? If not, that would be something to consider doing as she may be willing to redo the crown at a reduced fee or for free since you have a legitimate excuse for not seeing her sooner.
I know this is a frustrating situation for you. But I urge you to take care of this sooner than later. The money is an issue, but losing the tooth due to waiting will become a bigger issue.
Please check back with us.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by EsthersDoll
Hi
I got a crown about a year ago and it really hurts!
My gums surrounding the crown hurts and the tooth itself hurts and the jawbone even hurts.
It feels like there is a lot of space next to the tooth that wasn't there before the crown was put in. It hurts to eat using that tooth (#4) and that basically renders the entire right side of my mouth useless.
I've had to dig food out from next to it, or now that I've read a little bit about it, maybe I am digging food out from under it which would explain why it's so hard to accomplish, using toothpicks, pieces of paper and dental floss which I never had to do before I got this crown.
I've been to a second dentist who saw on the X-ray that "the crown margin of the distal is not sealed".
My dental inurance company has denied the claim to replace it stating that they will only replace a crown once every 5 years. I have filed a grievance since this tooth had no problems before the crown was put on it. I had no idea they don't cover replacement work completed by incompetent dentists.
I really can't imagine living with this problem for 4 more years.
I wasn't able to deal with it sooner because I was dealing with some other major health issues. (Hence neurotalk... Specifically hypopituitarism caused by a concussion that took much debilitation and about 3 years to diagnose properly.)
I sincerely feel duped by the dentist who recommended that I get the crown in the first place and then applied it wrongly to boot.
And I think she even submitted the forms wrong to my insurance company and told them I had this crown done on a different date than I actually did.
Any information that can be offered as to what exactly it means that "the crown margin of the distal is not sealed", how I can get the insurance company to replace it (since it hurts so much), or what will happen if I don't fork over money out of pocket to replace it is greatly appreciated.
I have every intention of yelping and posting a review of said incompetent dentist as soon as I hear back from my submitted grievance.
Thanks!
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