Daughter’s Bonding Looks Awful

Posted by writeradmin

We had a winter storm, which we rarely get where we live. My eleven year old daughter was so excited. I took her sledding, using a laundry basket. Unfortunately, she ended up getting in a bit of an accident and broke one of her front teeth. The only thing left was the top and sides. Our pediatric dentist suggested we do dental bonding. We did but it looks awful. It’s lumpy and doesn’t even match the color. What do we do?

Belinda

Dear Belinda,

While your daughter’s dentist was on the right track in the treatment he suggested, he was clearly in over his head. Pediatric dentists, as well as general dentists, are not trained in cosmetic dentistry. That is something all dentists must do post-doctoral. He did great with the diagnosis, but he should have given her a referral to a dentist who knew how to do it.

Dental bonding is one of the hardest cosmetic procedures because it has to be done freehand. The best pediatric dentists know when they are out of their skill set and get their patients to someone with those skills. I would ask for a refund and a referral.

Be cautions, though. Vet the dentist and make sure they do beautiful cosmetic work. Definitely,don’t listen to any dentist who recommends that she get a dental crown. Those are a horrible idea at her age. First, her pulp is quite large so messing with the tooth to prepare it for a crown is likely to damage the pulp. Second, even if she somehow escaped that complication, her teeth are still erupting so the margins will soon become exposed.

This blog is brought to you by Medicaid children’s dentists in Lafayette at My Louisiana Dental Group.