TL;DR The best dental experience to date. Powered by the best dental team I have ever had. So amazing I wrote my first online review… ever! - Go and start loving the dentist. Okay, I am not one to leave reviews, actually this would be my first… ever. I am not a guy who generally dislikes the dentist and I have pretty good teeth (if i say so myself)... so that’s never been my issue. I am also kinda your typical tech-nerd type and love to understand the science and how things are working… this is the only motivation for me to floss or give a F about taking care of my teeth. After moving to Seattle almost a decade ago there hasn’t been a dentist that has triggered the “that was great, I can’t wait to come back, holy crap I know more than I did walking in” moment as much as Dr. Elizabeth Finnessy and her amazing team. The staff took care of getting my insurance sorted out ahead of time over email, so I didn’t have to fill out a ton of forms, understand what was covered, etc.... The reception area feels more like a living room from West Elm, draped with cool art, and less of a sterile doctors office. However it was lacking a few Highlights magazines for us nostalgic types. The dental team was immensely collaborative and caring. I think I saw almost every person in the office for my first visit. My scaling, cleaning and scans were led by the best dental artist I have ever had. Not only friendly, but that kind of person who helps you understand how to take care of your teeth in normal people speak.. And you leave wanting to ask.. “Hey, you want hang out, shoot a round of golf”.. Please be my new awesome friend. Then when it came to get the oral-lowdown from The Doc, not only was she super personable, fun and energetic, but she took the time to walk me through my x-rays and pictures on a screen over my chair.. She took the time on an iPad to show me what was going on in my mouth, what it means and what the future would look like for me; simply amazing, informative, approachable, modern and I feel more in control of my body, personal health than ever before.. and that ... all a dental visit… WHAT??! Thanks Bellevue Dental Health, See you soon. Amish
Going to the dentist was at the bottom of my most favorite things to do list until I moved over to Dr Libbi. She was very thorough with my treatment plan, answered all my questions and put me at ease prior to beginning my treatment. She and her staff make you feel like a family member the minute you walk through the door. Dr. Libbi’s abilities as a dentist are beyond comparison with any other dentist I have ever been to. She has a very gentle approach and I am at complete ease in her chair. I have referred several of my friends and colleagues to her and will continue to without hesitation.
Absolutely - go get a second opinion. Thin teeth do not mean you can't move them - they can actually be easier to shift. However if your bone levels and periodontal (around the teeth/gum) health is poor - orthodontic movement can be contraindicated. Hope this helps!
Implants have brought about a whole new ballgame in dentistry. And while an unbelievable treatment - they have their own set of problems. A tooth has a crown, a slightly more slender neck (area of tooth called cemento enamel junction - typically at gum line) and then splays out with roots beneath the bone. Basically there is not that much difference in the horizonal width of the tooth and the neck. An implant replaces an area where a tooth was lost. And when this happens bone level decreases in this area. An implant is almost like an apple on a toothpick if you will (obviously this is a dramatic explanation) Thus the flossing of this entity is different then a tooth, it will floss vertically done and you should (similar to a tooth( be creating a C shape with the floss to slide down the tooth crown itself - an implant crown will appear to go horizontally under the tooth crown - this is okay its just your new normal so it may be more of a food trap. It is very important for your doctor when having the implant to plan the "emergence profile" or how the implant screw leads up to the crown as we want it to mimic a tooth as best possible - so using a much wider diameter screw in areas of molars (larger teeth) vs front teeth that are much skinnier and dont need a large implant to support them. Keep floss in your shower, floss threaders in your car, all over the place. Or discuss replacing implant with a larger screw - not recommended as its undue trauma to your body.
This is a great question. Unfortunately the area in your mouth that is under the crown is what best shapes the new caps to go on top. But with the advent of digital technology you are able in some offices to get same day crowns - essentially you would be numb and not feel anything, the crowns would be removed easily and a scan of your tooth preparations would be taken - digitally sent to the mill (CAD/CAM) so long as dentist had one and the crowns would be milled on the spot and cemented. If I better understood would you didn't like I could advise on that as well. Sounds like this would be your best route so as to not deal with temporaries. Standard non digital would be to take off the crowns, take an impression aka the goop, and then send you home in a temporary for about 10 days while a lab at a third party location fabricated your new crowns.
So sorry to hear you are experiencing this. I will tell you first and foremost we want our teeth to move. They all have ligaments surrounding them (The periodontal ligament - literally meaning - surrounding the tooth). This is similar to other ligaments in our body. If we couldn't wiggle our teeth a little - it would be disastrous when we ever got bumped or bit on something really hard as the teeth would shatter. So you may be now noticing tooth movement you weren't aware of before considering you weren't focused on these teeth. The teeth may also be experiencing something called crepitus - that is when you bite down and clench certain teeth move when they shouldn't - this might have happened if the occlusion or your bite was changed at all with the veneers. Lastly but most unlikely seeing as two docs have checked you out - there may be an air bubble in the cement causing you to sense the proprioception of something not right. I hope this helps.
Congratulations on quitting smoking - that is huge! First and foremost you are going to want to get a cleaning - once your gums are less inflamed - the chips will be able to be fixed. It will be best to bleach before you get the teeth fixed actually - we want the composite resin used to match your teeth - and if we did them first and then you bleached - the filling portion would stick out as it won’t bleach like your teeth. Hope this helps!
