Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could refer me to a good dentist in boulder colorado. I have a lot of dental work that needs to be done. Two root canals 15 & 30, several cavities some composite (8,9,22,23,24,25, 14,12,11,7,2,4) and a deep clean due to severe tartar around teeth (20- 17)

flossie

The best way to find a good dentist is to ask friends, family, co-workers and neighbours.
You could also check RateMD.com You will find comments from patients of dentists in Boulder there.

rustyyy

Hi!

It is not in Colorado, but still very excellent, my aunt has just been there and is really satisfied! In Hungary, the empireclinic! I think a check up is worth it..
Bests
Rusty

Runner822

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to Flossie and Rusty's recomindation I went to the dentist today for x-rays and a treatment plan (they wouldn't clean my teeth becaue of the state their in). I have a bunch of questions about my treatment plan.

1. I had two deep cavities filled when I was a child teeth (15 & 30) now they have severe decay again. In order to save these teeth I need two molar root canals then crowns the dentist suggested gold crowns but obviously people will be able to notice I have crowns but he said they are more stable. Thoughts?

2. I need multiple fillings. On my front teeth I have 8 cavities that will need composite fillings (he said the fillings will stain if I drink coffee, tea or wine which I love) so he suggested veneers. Thoughts?

3. Most of my other teeth minus 10,14,21 need fillings. He wants to do these all at once. Won't that be painful. He also said my top molars that need filled could be deep (he won't know how deep until he goes in and fills once he is in there he may need to perform a root canal) Does that sound right I thought they could tell the depth of a cavity by x-ray.

4. Tooth 22 has a 5mm pocket and root loss plus a cavity he wants to extract the tooth and replace with an implant. He said the tooth isn't worth keeping because it is severly sensitive to hot and cold now and will probably result in another root canal. Thoughts?

5. He also said I need a deep clean in all quadrants of my mouth due to severe tartar. Followed by a regular cleaning but none of this can be performed until the cavities and decay are taken care of. Why is that?

PS: My teeth hurt more now then ever and all he did was x-ray and exam any thoughts as to why.

Thanks for all your advice.

flossie

Hi Runner,
My thoughts...

1. Gold crowns are stronger, healthier and less tooth structure needs to be removed. Full gold crowns are generally recommended for molar teeth. If you are concerned that the gold will show, ask the dentist to have a porcelain front put on the cheek surface but keep the biting surface gold.

2. Yes, composite fillings will stain in time. These veneers are not a priority for you right now. I'd suggest have the composites placed on these teeth, add milk to your tea, cream to your coffee and switch to white wine
Composite fillings have come a long way in the past years and they are not as porous as they once were.
Use a toothpaste like Crest's Vivid White to help control the staining.

3. Can't always tell how much decay is there with an xray. What he is seeing is that it is close to the nerve. If, when he's cleaning the decay out and the nerve gets exposed, then a root canal will be needed. Sometimes they will place a sedative dressing to see if the tooth is going to cause problems. If it doesn't, then a filling is placed without a root canal.

4. Is the tooth loose? If not, keep the pocket clean (5mm IS reversible). If you were my family member I'd leave the tooth where it is. An implant can be placed at any time. I'd go for the root canal, it could buy you a number of years.

5. If you have open areas of decay it makes it difficult to do a thorough cleaning. If you need quadrant scaling why don't you schedule the scaling the same day he does work in a particular quadrant.
My feeling in regards to this is that having healthy gums can make the restorations easier to do as the DDS doesn't have to deal with bleeding caused by unhealthy gums.

PS: He's been poking around with a periodontal probe and explorer. Take some Tylenol and you should be more comfortable.

I hope this helped.

Runner822

Thanks for your response flossie.

I have the two root canals scheduled for tomorrow I decided to go with gold crowns. Is there anything I should be aware of going into the root canals?

Two weeks after the root canals I have all the fillings scheduled. I am thinking of taking the day off of work as they are filling all but 5 of my teeth. Thoughts?

Then 3 weeks after that I am getting root scalling and planning on tooth 22 and a possible root canal with a porcelin cap.

Then 4 weeks after that I am getting a full mouth deep clean they said this will take 5 hours yuck.

Then finally 6 weeks after that I have my regular dental cleaning.

I was wondering if there was anything I should do to prepare for all this dental work.

Thanks for all your advice

flossie

Hi Runner,

The only thing I might suggest is perhaps taking a couple of Advil prior to the appointments. Ideally you should wait about 3-6 months after root canals are done before going ahead with the crowns. You want to be sure that the tooth is OK before going ahead with the investment of crowns. That being said, root canalled teeth are always at risk of failing and eventually having to be retreated or extracted.

Curious...how deep were your pockets and how much bleeding was noted when you had the periodontal charting (pockets measured) done?

A good power toothbrush like the Oral B Triumph is a good choice to maintain the gums, teeth and margins of the crowns. The Oral B "floss action" brush head works great for reducing stain.

Crest's ProHealth toothpaste and mouthwash are also good products to use to help the gums stay healthy or if you'd prefer something more holistic go to a paste that contains tea tree oil like Thursday's Plantation or Melaleuca's tooth polish.

You should also become very good friends with dental floss or an alternative like Sunstar's SoftPicks or GoBetweens.

After your treatments are done be sure to let your dentist know if something doesn't feel right. You may not notice a problem until you are home and the freezing is out but call to let him/her know. Sometimes a slight adjustment to a filling can make all the difference to your comfort.

Good luck and Congratulations...you are on your way to better health!!

Runner822

Hi,

I just had the two root canals done. The dentist said they were more complicated as most of my tooth was decayed. He also said he is not sure if they will take there is only 1/3 of the tooth left that is not decayed on tooth 15 and 1/6 on tooth 30. I have temorary crowns for a month to see if the teeth give me anymore problems he says if they do I will need to get both extracted. Is there nothing else he can do to save the teeth?

Flossie to answer your question my right top had pockets 8mm. Right bottom pockets 6mm. Left top pockets 9mm and left bottom pockets 7mm. What does that mean?

Also Flossie thanks for your advice on home care is there an alternative to flossing? I absolutely hate to floss and having my fingers in my mouth gives me canker sores.

flossie

Runner,

In regards to "pockets" healthy pockets are between 1mm and 3mm. The higher the number the more serious the disease. It's good that you are having quadrant scaling!
Remember, the pockets can reverse and get healthier with the scaling and your home care. The idea is to get the pockets to a point that will be easy for you to manage at home.

You really should invest it a waterpik and Oral B Triumph brush. If flossing isn't for you, try the Soft Picks or Go Betweens as I mentioned in my previous post.

The teeth that had the root canals...time will tell. If they were so badly decayed that there wasn't much tooth structure left you may very well end up losing them.

Runner822

Thanks for your advice Flossie. I will buy the soft picks and try them. Should I use them ASAP or wait until my cavities are filled?

Just a update on my root canals. I can't tell if they are bothering me or my other teethache but I have a pretty severe toothache on the right side of my mouth and am currently taking 600mg of Ibuprofin to releave. Any thoughts?