What is my Brazilian dentist trying to do do me?

Question

I speak very little Portuguese and the communication between my dentist and me is marginal. I live in Rio and my dentist has placed high temporary crowns on my 4 lower back molars. 2 on each side. They feel even on each side but they are at least 1mm taller than the teeth in front. I am currently waiting for 3 root canals and she wanted me to try to adapt to the higher level teeth. I apparently grind through all my dental work pretty fast and my lower teeth were actually fitting beneath my front upper teeth. it was giving me a curmudgeonly look and my lower lip appeared to be smaller.
Now I cannot close my teeth and I can only chew on the surfaces of those back teeth. If I can adapt to the higher teeth my facial appearance will be improved but I am wondering about the long term effects on the front bone areas. If those teeth do not feel pressure from the opposing teeth will the bone be harmed or deteriorate?

Do US dentists do this kind of treatment? pros and cons?
thank you

Answer 1

I disagree completely with the first answer. But without seeing your teeth i can't say for certain. In dentistry, vertical dimension is a term used to describe the relationship of the upper and lower jaw. When and if you are grinding your teeth down you will be over-closing when you bite..therefor losing vertical demension. One way, albeit controversial, to fix this is to lift the back teeth like this dentist is doing and deal with the front teeth later. This will not affect any bone supporting the teeth with 2 exceptions. 1. The front teeth...(unless you have a severe overbite to start with...or...if they are still in conact with eachj other after the dentist raised your back teeth) will hyper erupt. Another way of putting this...your teeth want to be in conact with the opposing tooth if you raise the back then the front teeth will vertically drift toward each other.
The second exception is with the tmj (temperomandibular joint) where your lower jaw attaches to your head...this joint is the part of the bone that can be traumatized when biting high. The dentist should be keeping track of this and if your jaw is hurting with the new bite it needs to be adjusted.
US dentists have attempted this to combat heavy wear...but it is very difficult to do and to treat...Most often it is used as a last resort to combat wear of the tops of your teeth...it is very aggressive. Normally after the vertical dimension has been raised the front teeth are capped especially if they have been affected by the wear.
ALso wear can get bad enough to start killing off teeth which might be the reason for the root canals. Left untreated you could end up losing all teeth... Having said all of this, if you are usure you SHOULD seek a second opinion. Any dentist worth seeing would not be offeded if you looked for a second opinion. Hope this helps
Good luck

Answer 2

She needs to use a gold crown if you have a hard bite & grind your teeth... it will mess your bite up & cause you to have more problems if she leaves them too high...even though she plans to do root canals....you will eventually destroy the jaw bone around them & possible loose them down the road...or crack the teeth upper teeth..then you'll need those done too.
Why is she doing root canals ?? I had 2 gold crowns without root canals...my teeth are just fine..the crowns were done over 20 years ago....unless they are broken down or abcess there really isn't any need of root canals...some say "well,if you do have an abcess later ,the crown will have to be drilled through to do it"....
They should never mess with a person's bite like that
I worked for a private dentist for 8 years and in a lrage clinic with 10 denist..the most important thing they did was to make sure the bite was correct..even when a root canal had been done.
I have the same problem you have with grinding & a hrad bite..so they used gold crowns...that way I didn't break the teeth above them and gold has more give & lasts longer than porcelin..which is very hard & can crack the teeth that you bite against...also the front teeth could grow out of their sockets...
Go to another dentist if she continues to insist she is right about leaving them higher than they should be..

Answer 3

I agree with the answer above. But I do not think it is controversial. Restoring vertical Dimension is routinely done the Unitied States. for those who can afford all the work. It usually runs in the $25K to $30K range since all the teeth have to be crowned at a higher level for the teeth to function propberly. It has to be done relatively quickly in months not years because as your are experiencing right now the fron teeth can't touch, so your'e going nuts. Especiall when you try to tear into a steak or something.

It's terrible when you have to tell a patients who has ground their teeth down to the gums that you can't correct their problem because their Insurance only cover $2000 per year. You can spread this type of work out over several years.

The Pros are that, if you can't get used to the new dimesnion You can have young looking teeth again. The cons are that you may not be able to get used to it. Since you are restoring all the teeth? Then there are 28 or 32 chances for things to go wrong. etc. . .

If you decide to follow throught make sure you do all of them relatively soon and finish the job. Dont' hesistate. Stopping in midstream will make thing really bad. You can experience tooth failure from overloading those four teeth on each side.

Answer 4

it SOUNDS like she is trying to open your bite. sometimes, in mouths that have been neglected - and sometimes regardless of care- the mouth will OVERCLOSE- being overclosed can cuz problems but if she were to proceed and make your permanent crowns higher like your temps and you were NOT able to adjust then you would all have to start over - so, it sounds like she is trying to see if you can adjust to the bite as it is supposed to be.

as far as it causing damage to the bone around your front teeth- none that i have ever heard of- infact, it should take alot of stress off of those teeth

seriously= you should ask for an interpretor- i bet someone knows someone who speaks your language