Hi folks,
Sorry for the long narrative but I want you folks to get the whole story to understand where I'm coming from. I went to a private dental practice yesterday (10/16) for what was supposed to be dental scaling. They told me that the hygienist and dentist would look at me and determine whether or not scaling was needed
Prior to going to this private dental practice I had been going to a student dental hygiene clinic for a few years. You know the teaching schools like Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, MA, where they learn how to be dentists and dental hygienists.
Every year I went there, they would be very thorough. They would check my pocket depths, then scale and clean my teeth. It would take a few appointment to finish but the work was overall, excellent. I'd have no stains or anything, and my gums would feel great. The only problem was the commute to get to the school to get the work done and the time to finish the work. The price was great too, since I didn't have dental insurance.
So I end up getting dental insurance I go to this private practice with my wife. She gets one hygienist and I get another. We both go in for cleanings at the same time. The one I get doesn't probe my gums for pocket depth. The hygienist takes x-rays and blazes through my teeth. The dentist comes in. She immediately starts talking about getting a crown on my cracked molar. She just agrees with the hygienist that I didn't need scaling. I don't even see the dentist look at the x-rays that were taken that day, nor does she look at the x-rays which were taken two years ago at the dental clinic.
She sends me out front where I get the sales pitch about coming in to get that crown put on. Now mind you, I had to have the molar on the opposite side of my mouth extracted by an oral surgeon, after another dentist said I needed a dental crown and the tooth got infected after he did the work. It was either get it extracted or get a root canal (after the infection was gone). So needless to say I wanted to think about it before I spent another $600 out of pocket after the insurance paid its' portion, ans possibly lose another molar from a procedure that goes south.
So after the cleaning I'm feeling around the inside of my mouth and it's all rough at the base on the bottom front and sides. Like the hygienist didn't even scale the teeth above the gum line. She used a manual scraper instead of an ultrasonic, since I told her I had sensitivity to the ultrasonic in my bottom lower front teeth. My hygienist and the dentist are in the back working on the next patient and the office manager / receptionist is setting up my next appointment. I ask the office manager why they didn't probe my gum depth. She says, "oh next time they will do it." Another hygenist comes out to the front (nice young lady who did an excellent job on my wife's teeth. She says that maybe it's the exposed roots and that's causing the roughness. I set up another six month appointment and head home with my wife.
I get home and for the first time after the cleaning I look at my teeth. They are all yellow and stained. There's brown, which looks like tartar that goes stained. Also, it looked like she didn't get in between any of the teeth to scale out the plaque (I could see dark black stains in there) It looks like all she polished were the front teeth and that's it. The inside of my mouth (especially the bottom) is all rough, like the tartar is still there.
So I call them up and voice my concerns to the office manager. Instead of saying, "no problem. Come on in and we'll take a look" she say, "well the dentist looked at your teeth and it's all fine." I tell her it isn't what can she do. She puts me on hold and then says, "come in and we'll do an assessment on you." I have an "assessment" set up for next week.
Lat night, I'm digging at with my fingernails in between my molars because I'm getting the same pain I get when the teeth have not been cleaned. Like the gums are inflamed by the bacteria.
So, my questions -
I've uploaded some pictures that I took today for you on my google drive. At first I thought I was overreacting, but I know whenever I went to the clinic I didn't have hardly any stains leftover and my gums were fine. I can clearly see all kinds of stains and black stuff in between the teeth. The camera shots aren't that great but it's the best I could do by myself. But they do show more or less what I'm talking about. I've also looked online and even Delta Dental says they are supposed to take care of those stains from cleaning.
My theory is either these were stains that were not buffed out from the cleaning, or the stains is actually the tartar that was missed by the hygienist and the tartar is stained from food or drink.
Again, sorry for the long narrative but I'm angry that the treatment I received is so far below the quality I got at the clinic. Plus, I feel I probably needed the scaling but they didn't have enough time to do it so just did a cleaning.
If you could please take a look at the photos of my gaping maw and weigh in I'd appreciate it.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3M4i-BvVA2KVmFCNnhfZTNTdWc
Sorry for the long narrative but I want you folks to get the whole story to understand where I'm coming from. I went to a private dental practice yesterday (10/16) for what was supposed to be dental scaling. They told me that the hygienist and dentist would look at me and determine whether or not scaling was needed
Prior to going to this private dental practice I had been going to a student dental hygiene clinic for a few years. You know the teaching schools like Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, MA, where they learn how to be dentists and dental hygienists.
Every year I went there, they would be very thorough. They would check my pocket depths, then scale and clean my teeth. It would take a few appointment to finish but the work was overall, excellent. I'd have no stains or anything, and my gums would feel great. The only problem was the commute to get to the school to get the work done and the time to finish the work. The price was great too, since I didn't have dental insurance.
So I end up getting dental insurance I go to this private practice with my wife. She gets one hygienist and I get another. We both go in for cleanings at the same time. The one I get doesn't probe my gums for pocket depth. The hygienist takes x-rays and blazes through my teeth. The dentist comes in. She immediately starts talking about getting a crown on my cracked molar. She just agrees with the hygienist that I didn't need scaling. I don't even see the dentist look at the x-rays that were taken that day, nor does she look at the x-rays which were taken two years ago at the dental clinic.
She sends me out front where I get the sales pitch about coming in to get that crown put on. Now mind you, I had to have the molar on the opposite side of my mouth extracted by an oral surgeon, after another dentist said I needed a dental crown and the tooth got infected after he did the work. It was either get it extracted or get a root canal (after the infection was gone). So needless to say I wanted to think about it before I spent another $600 out of pocket after the insurance paid its' portion, ans possibly lose another molar from a procedure that goes south.
So after the cleaning I'm feeling around the inside of my mouth and it's all rough at the base on the bottom front and sides. Like the hygienist didn't even scale the teeth above the gum line. She used a manual scraper instead of an ultrasonic, since I told her I had sensitivity to the ultrasonic in my bottom lower front teeth. My hygienist and the dentist are in the back working on the next patient and the office manager / receptionist is setting up my next appointment. I ask the office manager why they didn't probe my gum depth. She says, "oh next time they will do it." Another hygenist comes out to the front (nice young lady who did an excellent job on my wife's teeth. She says that maybe it's the exposed roots and that's causing the roughness. I set up another six month appointment and head home with my wife.
I get home and for the first time after the cleaning I look at my teeth. They are all yellow and stained. There's brown, which looks like tartar that goes stained. Also, it looked like she didn't get in between any of the teeth to scale out the plaque (I could see dark black stains in there) It looks like all she polished were the front teeth and that's it. The inside of my mouth (especially the bottom) is all rough, like the tartar is still there.
So I call them up and voice my concerns to the office manager. Instead of saying, "no problem. Come on in and we'll take a look" she say, "well the dentist looked at your teeth and it's all fine." I tell her it isn't what can she do. She puts me on hold and then says, "come in and we'll do an assessment on you." I have an "assessment" set up for next week.
Lat night, I'm digging at with my fingernails in between my molars because I'm getting the same pain I get when the teeth have not been cleaned. Like the gums are inflamed by the bacteria.
So, my questions -
I've uploaded some pictures that I took today for you on my google drive. At first I thought I was overreacting, but I know whenever I went to the clinic I didn't have hardly any stains leftover and my gums were fine. I can clearly see all kinds of stains and black stuff in between the teeth. The camera shots aren't that great but it's the best I could do by myself. But they do show more or less what I'm talking about. I've also looked online and even Delta Dental says they are supposed to take care of those stains from cleaning.
My theory is either these were stains that were not buffed out from the cleaning, or the stains is actually the tartar that was missed by the hygienist and the tartar is stained from food or drink.
Again, sorry for the long narrative but I'm angry that the treatment I received is so far below the quality I got at the clinic. Plus, I feel I probably needed the scaling but they didn't have enough time to do it so just did a cleaning.
If you could please take a look at the photos of my gaping maw and weigh in I'd appreciate it.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3M4i-BvVA2KVmFCNnhfZTNTdWc