Get the real deal on beauty treatments—real doctors, real reviews, and real photos with real results.Here's how we earn your trust.

POSTED UNDER Dental Bonding REVIEWS

regret my dental bonding - Union City, NJ

ORIGINAL POST

I had perfect natural teeth. Had. The only slight...

VeronicaMay
$200

I had perfect natural teeth. Had. The only slight flaw was that I had small white spots on the lower part of my top front teeth (2). Like an idiot I never imagined i could ever loose this. I drank and didn't take care of them and the yellowed. I originally wanted teeth whitening but was convinced to get my top 2 teeth bonded to cover the contrast of yellow and white. The dentist conservatively drilled enamel and placed the bonding material. I didn't like it. The machine gave me craze lines. But overall it looked ok. I should halve stopped there. I had it done in Ecuador.

When came back to Jersey, I wanted a scratch to be removed and was told it could be polished off. It worked. I was happy. Then i hit my right tooth with a fork, and went to have it lightly polished again--but it was a different dentist (same office). She drilled OFF my dental bonding and along with layers of enamel exposing a thin front tooth. I went livid. I got off and searched for the other dentist to fix it and she said they had to re-bond my tooth. I trusted her.

She did a sloppy job. She ended up putting more composite on top of the composite giving me 2 layers of this dull bonding material and even went up to my tooth and gave me an UNEVEN Gumline. I asked for her to fix it but she left the room. They all looked at me like i was crazy! On top of that i was told i had to pay $125 on the spot. They even wanted to sell me the veneer option but i payed and ran out.

I ran to another dentist to fix the crooked material seeping into my gum line and he shaved MORE enamel off. It's even but it looks much thiner and duller. It looked like a piece of gum on my tooth. I REGRET IT MORE THAN ANYTHING. I can't sleep. I don't eat. I'm breaking out. What have I done?!

I'm a 22 year old female.

VeronicaMay's provider

VeronicaMay ratings

Overall rating
Doctor's bedside manner
Answered my questions
After care follow-up
Time spent with me
Phone or email responsiveness
Staff professionalism & courtesy
Payment process
Wait times

Unprofessional. Impatient. Selfish.

Replies (9)

User Avatar
June 4, 2014
I'm so sorry that you're unhappy with the outcome of your bonding.  :(

Do you have pictures to show us what happened?  I don't really understand, cause I'm not good at visualization.  I thought bonding was usually used so you wouldn't have to shave the teeth?  Veneers are supposed to look more real, if you're willing to shave the teeth.  Also, I thought bonding was usually to repair teeth, but you said you used it instead of whitening?

Thank you for sharing your story.
July 26, 2014
There is no better work than natural teeth. Unfortunately I dont have pictures of the bad job they did. I had to go to Ecuador and get it fixed and it looks better now....but I still have the craze lines....I hope in the future I could do lumineers but all this trauma made me realize that im actually kind of lucky--they look normal now. I guess I just have to get used to having cracked teeth. I went from naturally perfect to maturally imperfect....not worth. Please do NOT ever get ANYTHING done on natural teeth. Braces and oral hygiene is a must. Had I just gone for whitening I could have had perfect teeth....but my road to perfection cost me the structure of my teeth...I regret it more than anything.
July 26, 2014
Correct bonding is great for small chips but they will "polish" (it ac tually is drill and it may crack enamel but dentist dont rell you this) and etch the tooth as preparation work so that the bonding can adhere better. Since I had several procedures done there was A lot of drilling ...."polishing" that is the biggest B.S. these dentistist call it.
July 26, 2014
Sorry for all the mispellings...I type fast lol
User Avatar
July 27, 2014
No problem :).  I appreciate very much the clarification about the drilling and all.  I did wonder how they got stuff to stick!  It'd still be helpful if you posted a final pic, in terms of getting people to look at your review ;).  And I don't know what craze lines are, so that'd be helpful as well.  Thanks for coming back and replying!
July 29, 2014
Crazelines are hairline cracks that naturally occur on teeth enamel due to wear and tear throughout the years. Or if you are a "grinder" or accident/trauma/and dental, work. Sometimes they can pick up stains and become noticiable. Whitening is the only treatment available.
July 29, 2014
I put a picture....my confidence is at an all time low....I know im being selfish but I want my teeth back. Glossy full front teeth....im looking into emax veneers and I read they can be made thin, are durable, and naturally looking. I made an appointment with a great cosmetic dentist in nyc. But I dont know if this is a solution....I notice people get receding gums and veneers tend to look fake. Im interested in no prep ones since I actually want another layer....but I dont know if im pushing my luck. Advice?
November 23, 2016
I feel your pain, A so called dentist shaved my cusp too flat and now I'm suffering so bad for months. It's sad we blame ourselves but it's them who did the botched jobs. I rather your issues than mines! It's no joke having an off bite, you can't eat and sleep for real and it's painful and other teeth wear! A real living nightmare
February 2, 2017
Im sorry to hear you had such an awful experience with your teeth, especially being so young! No matter what! DO NOT EVER cheap out on dental work!! you only have one set of teeth, you lose your enamel and its gone forever. Im not sure what you can do since you got them done in Ecuador and even professionals in the US couldn't fix it without losing even more of your tooth, sounds like now you've already lose A LOT of your tooth enamel, which makes it difficult to work with. are you willing to spend more to have a better cosmetic dentist try to see if they could possibly fix them?
Thank you for sharing, most of the time bonding works great for patients but there are some that don't look good, now people can see the bad side of bonding so they can learn from your mistake and won't regret ruining their teeth.
Also whitening is a GREAT option to fix little white spots and can even out any discolouration on the teeth for a beautiful bright white smile. After bonding you unfortunately can never whiten your teeth since the material covering your natural teeth can not whiten.
UPDATED FROM VeronicaMay
2 months post

Problem slightly improved

VeronicaMay
Update: I got the teeth polished and they look normal now. Naturally inperfect....I still have craze lines and they are thinner....but they look normal. I still regret ever touching them. Please never get any dental work done even the simplest of things can go wrong and there is no going back.

Replies (4)

May 12, 2016
agree
User Avatar
May 25, 2018
This is true. I agree with the comment from Anonymousfromnyc. That is why any realistic surgeon, dentist, doctor, whatever will tell you upfront that nothing is guaranteed. There are always risks.
User Avatar
February 3, 2018
Just because there are risks involved in a procedure doesn't mean no one should ever have any dental work done. There are risks with everything and one should always do their research. That doesn't mean you should "never get any dental work done."
August 24, 2019
No place to be a jerk. Realself is a community for people to share their journey. I was young and people make mistakes. All i was doing in sharing was trying to prevent other people from making a mistake. I wouldn't wish the pain and emotional nightmare in anyone.
UPDATED FROM VeronicaMay
2 months post

present day

VeronicaMay
This is the "fixed version" 7/29

Replies (5)

User Avatar
July 30, 2014
Wow!  The fixed version looks good.  Great job on that!  I can just barely see a couple of lines in your upper left central incisor--is that what you were talking about?  I'm not sure I'd have noticed if you'd not pointed them out.  Do you find that people mention them?
User Avatar
July 30, 2014
I can't give advice since I'm not a doctor and I've never done veneers.  I've seen lots of pictures on here, though, of truly gorgeous veneers.  It's not a good solution for everyone, but it works for some.  I think your teeth look beautiful in the last picture, though.  For advice on your situation, I'd suggest asking the doctors in our Q&A Forum, which you can do right here.  You'll need to submit very clear and well-lit pictures, though, so that they can give you the best advice possible.

The no-prep veneers tend to make teeth thicker, which, for most people, leaves them with unusually thick teeth, and comes with its own set of problems.  But it depends on the condition of your teeth now.  Definitely ask the doctors!  And good luck at your consultation--that is an excellent idea as well!
August 12, 2014
I see the current picture and your teeth look great. I would not do a thing for a while. I did Invisalign and have nice straight teeth but not PERFECT. I decided to wait a while. I know think too much work looks phony and is risky. I will accept the tiny flaws. I do like the straight teeth. I am afraid if I get more work. I won't like it.
User Avatar
August 24, 2014
Hey, @mic123!  You finished your Invisalign?  Are you in full-time retainers now or are you already at part-time?
August 25, 2014
Tiny flaws are normal and im sure your teeth turned out great! And yea don't do any thing else.