Gumming Grits....

[creditchaos]

What is the name of your state? OH

A few years ago I had 2 permanent bridges put in by my dentist. He recommended a new product which claimed to be stronger, less prone to discoloration etc than the tried and true porcelain over metal.
I have had trouble with these bridges since day one. Before moving out of state my dentist would always fix whatever problems I was having.....bridge fell out , needed to be recemented ,material chipped etc.
After moving and seeing a new dentist I was told that this "miracle material" was no longer manufactured due to it's high failure rate. I am now faced with 2 broken /unrepairable bridges and $10,000 in dental work to replace the bridges.
I know that my dentist wasn't aware that this new material would fail. Is the company who manufactured this product libel? There is no way I can afford to have this dental work done and I have already spent several thousand $$.

[ellencee]

creditchaos
As long as the overall condition and shape of your mouth/teeth alignment has not changed, you may have a less costly solution than starting over for new bridges.

Your previous dentist probably did not make the bridges but only prepared the teeth and set the bridges. Minor repairs to bridges are often done by dentists or the office techs.

The bridges were probably made by a dental lab. It is the dental lab that may be able to help you. Find out which dental lab made the bridges, call or write them, and ask what they can do to assist you. It is possible that if a 'few years' is only 2 or 3, that the lab still has your impressions and can send them to your present dentist to be checked for proper fit, etc. It is possible that your new dentist can make the impressions and send them to the dental lab who will then make new ones at a reduced charge due to the product's failure.

Here's the reality check--bridges aren't permanent structures and often require replacing even if the tried and true porcelain over metal technique is used. If it's been close to 5 years or over, I doubt you will get an offer of assistance. It's worth a try, though.

I suggest you do some price shopping, too. Your teeth are already prepared for the bridges, so the cost should be very little or the actual price of the bridges themselves.

If you haven't done so, please get temporary crowns on the anchor teeth so those teeth remain healthy.

Best wishes,
EC

(Somebody help me, please!!! When I need to change something I've typed, how do I get it to stop over-writing the words already there? I try to hit enter and then make the correction and then align the sentence, but there has to be another way!! Thanks!)

[gobonas99]

Originally posted by ellencee
(Somebody help me, please!!! When I need to change something I've typed, how do I get it to stop over-writing the words already there? I try to hit enter and then make the correction and then align the sentence, but there has to be another way!! Thanks!)

EC - When you hit the "insert" button, you toggle back and forth between "overwrite" and "insert" modes. I HATE overwrite...but sometimes, if I'm in a hurry or not paying attention, I'll accidentally hit it instead of the "delete" key. You probably just need to toggle the overwrite function off.

Hope that helped!

-Christina

[ellencee]

gobonas99
Thank you! I changed keyboards a few weeks ago and have more keys in the section where the delete key is. I probably was hitting insert instead of delete. I'll see if I can turn off the overwrite function. Thanks again!
EC