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I saw a 30 year old female today who has been frustrated by her dental experiences. I am the third dentist that she visited to learn how to save her teeth. She has had three root canals (Not by Root Canal Experts), three crowns followed by three extractions...by age 30. The two previous dentists told her that she needed more root canals and more crowns which brought her to tears.
Some facts:
The number of root canals that fail are infinitesimal compared to the number of root canals that were never done right in the first place.
If I see tooth decay around MY work, I immediately look around a patient's mouth to see if they have new virgin areas of decay on their natural teeth. IF I see decay around only MY fillings then I have a problem. If I see decay around my work, I virtually always see a mouthful of new decay on teeth that have never been filled before.
I looked around this patient's mouth and guess what I found? ALL of the tooth decay in her mouth is around existing dental fillings which, in MY opinion were never done right. The patient is not responsible for the dental problems that I saw...She is, however, a person that wanted good dentistry, accepted the recommendations of dentists and yet continues to have problems.
So what did I tell the patient?
1. That she did indeed need to see Dr. Banchs at Root Canal Experts.
2. That she has many areas of tooth decay but no VIRGIN areas of tooth decay.
3. That if she were MY Daughter, I would not place any new crowns in this patient and place well done bonded resin fillings.
There ARE patients who don't brush their teeth, don't floss their teeth and rarely go to the dentist. This patient was doing everything right and yet not having good dental experiences.
My conclusion: The patient did not receive high quality dental treatment. But you know what?
That will end NOW.
