Is my former dentist liable for my chipped crown?!
Question: I had to have a crown put on one of my bottom molars about 7 years ago. I noticed a couple of weeks ago, while flossing, that I have a piece of it missing now. Does anyone know if the dentist who put it in is liable to replace it for me at no charge?
Answers: I had to have a crown put on one of my bottom molars about 7 years ago. I noticed a couple of weeks ago, while flossing, that I have a piece of it missing now. Does anyone know if the dentist who put it in is liable to replace it for me at no charge?
I don't know the policy of your previous dentist, however, I can tell you how it would be handled in our office.
We offer a 5 yr. replacement warranty on all our crowns(*some limitations apply). However, a patient has to come into the office every 6 months so that the crown can be examined to make sure there are no problems and they have to have a cleaning done every 6 months and bitewing xrays done at least every year, in our office. We have never had a problem where a patient transferred to another office to get these procedures done, and then wanted us to redo the crown for them, but if they had proof that they had been seeing a dentist for a cleaning and xrays, and it was a problem brought on by a defect in the crown, then my dentist might go ahead and honor the warranty.
In your case, the 5 yrs. would be past in our office, so we would not redo the crown for free. It is possible that you are a tooth grinder and are doing it in your sleep. If so, that could have caused the chip. The chip in the porcelain will not cause any problems, as it will not allow bacteria to leak under the margin of the crown, so technically you could just leave it be. I have seen many patients elect to do this and they are just fine.
It doesn't hurt to ask. I would assume they are unless they told you there was no guarantee on it. Good luck.
Only if he gave you a 7 year warranty in writing.
But I would say no. I broke one of my top front ones in less than 5 years and had to fully pay for it.
No, he is not.
How did the piece become missing? Did you bite into something hard? Do you grind your teeth at night? Did your tooth have any type of trauma?
And although he is not liable, it would be a good thing to communicate this to the office. If I have a patient of record that this happens to and they have been a great patient over the last 7 years with routine, great check ups and home care, I'm going to take that into consideration.
If I have a patient that I put a crown in 7 years ago and haven't seen them since, then I have no record of what happened with regards to that tooth and they will pay entirely for a new one.
So what kind of patient have you been and what really happened with this tooth?
Only if you are in California. Then you can sue for anything.
I do not think your dentist is responsible its you job to make sure that you proceed with caution and not damage your dental work. Although either way you are going to have to return for him to fix the crown so maybe he can work out a decent price for the repairs.