Needless to say, the decay is now gone and a thorough sterilization took place before the new metal-free, perfectly fitting, crown was installed (did I mention same day?).
Another eye opening story:
Of course my new first hand understanding of how many dental mishaps are going on out there has led me to investigate the tougher cases at my clinic with a new eye for possible dental causes. So I found a patient who wasn't getting better fully and it turns out, after George Goodheart inspired testing at my office, that two of her teeth may be the culprit to her ill health. So I referred her to a great dentist (yes, the one who fixed my crown), asking her to let me know when she makes an appointment with him so that I can attend.
Two weeks later, I'm at her dental visit waiting for the doctor when she confesses that she went to her usual dentist the day before just to get his opinion. According to him, she needs three root canals! Yikes! I know that the dentist who's about to walk in doesn't do root canals, instead he extracts the tooth and implants a non-metal post. Three seems like a lot. Well, anyway, the doctor walks in and after introducing himself to my patient, he proceeds to do the exam and look at the x-rays. He explains that she does have severe decay on three teeth but that he can save them! She will need crowns on them, but she can avoid implants or worse, root canals. What a wonderful thing! And why can't the other dentist save her teeth? Not sure. But perhaps one of the three reasons listed above?
Root canals are not only unpleasant, but they kill the tooth, allowing bacteria to take up residence in the tooth pores, slowly excreting toxins into your body. Not a good idea.
And yet another personal dental lesson:
A family member of mine recently had a tooth extracted and a post implanted. She heard about my story and decided to switch dentists in order to get her fake tooth/crown put onto the post with the CNC machine so it would be a one day process. Her implanted post (by a different dentist) was a two step process: 1) extract the old tooth (which who knows, maybe it could have been saved?) and on the same visit implant some pig bone into the hole and sew it up, then 2) four months later cut open a hole in the socket and implant the post. The next step was to wait 2 more months, then put the crown on the post. So out of curiosity, we asked one-day-crown doctor, “What is your process for post implants?” Well, we were both surprised to find out that there is a nicer alternative. They do same day implants! And they use a vegan mineral patch instead of a pig bone! Amazing. Of course you then wait four months before having the same day crown put on. So overall 2 months faster for the post, only one surgery instead of two, and who knows how much less time making the crown. Oh well, now we know.
But I think the biggest miracle so far was the fact that one of my patients was actually laughing on several occasions during her dental exam with Dr. “One Day Crown.” This patient has severe dental phobia due to being slapped by her childhood dentist while crying and calling for her parents. She was having a panic attack because of an allergic reaction to the norepinephrine that is in the novacaine shots they give us to numb things. Back then they didn't know about this reaction some people have. She was not only slapped but strapped into the dental chair and knocked with other drugs. The fact that she was laughing during her recent visit with Dr. ODC and walked out having had a rather easy emotional time of things truly was a miracle. I have to admit, he makes me laugh too.
One last FYI:
If you too have a racing heart or other feelings of anxiety, you may have an epinephrine allergy. You can ask your dentist to use novacaine that doesn't have epinephrine in it so that you won't have this reaction.
Please contact with me with comments, questions, requests for a dentist referral, or for a George Goodheart inspired exam at my office to see if your teeth might need a better dentist.
