Dental Crowns in ONE DAY!

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I just had the best experience I’ve ever had with a dentist.  I’m located in Austin, Texas.  Actually, I’m just on the outskirts of Austin in an area that is considered Northwest Austin.  It’s Cedar Park area.  Boy, do I have a story for you.  This is not something I normally write about but ya’ll, there is new technology in dentistry and I want you to know about it because I didn’t!

When I was much younger, I had a bicycle accident.  I flew off my bike because the front wheel came off.  I ended up damaging my two front teeth.  Remember that song “All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth?”  I remember singing that song and having that song sung to me often.  I didn’t actually fix my front teeth until I was in high school.  I was terrified to go to the dentist.  I was young and naive.  I consulted my dentist and he said he could easily fix my front teeth with no issues at all.  He explained that it would be just like slipping on a glove to the teeth I already have.  My front teeth are already big so I remember asking him worriedly if the glove would make them look bigger.  I remember him laughing at me and saying no.  He assured me that I would be happy with the results.

Y’all, that experience was not anything like a glove.  She shaved my two front teeth down to little sticks!  I remember the machine grinding for a long time and I kept thinking that he is grinding way too much of the teeth.  I begged him for a mirror so I could see what he did.  He didn’t give me a mirror.  He said he would give me the mirror once the temporary teeth where on.  I could see a shadow of my teeth in the metal part of the light that was shining down on my two front teeth and I was horrified.  I felt as though he shaved my teeth down to little itty bitty toothpicks. I was holding back tears.  They put the temporary teeth on and sent me home.   I had to come back to get my real teeth once they received them back from the lab with the color matching and shape he requested.

This was not my first experience with a dentist.  This was my first experience with a dentist for a procedure like this though.  It was not cheap and it took a very long time from start to finish.  I had porcelain crowns.  That was 30 years ago.  From what I understand, this is the same practice that is done today.

Just last week I ended up chipping one of those porcelain crowns.  It was super sharp and very noticeable.  I was immediately horrified thinking I have to go through the whole process again.   I went into a weekend dentist that took emergencies.  I didn’t really consider this an emergency but the tooth was really sharp and it could have cut my tongue.  This new clinic ground down the tooth and tried to apply a temporary filling.  They warned me that they didn’t know how long it would last being that nothing really adheres to porcelain.  The cost was $300 for that 15 minute fix.  The color didn’t really match but at least the tooth wasn’t sharp anymore.  This would at least allow me a bit of time to save up for a new crown and allow it to look halfway decent in the meantime.  OMG!  It snapped off on my way home!  It lasted only 20 minutes!  I wasn’t even eating anything.  I think my tongue rubbed against it.  Now my tooth was even worse!  The chip was much bigger because they ground it down so it wouldn’t be sharp.

Who know chipping a front tooth would be this stressful.  I’ve never really considered myself a vain person but I did care about my front teeth.  I care about all of my teeth!

I went to my regular dentist who I have been seeing for years.  We are on first name basis.  Practically friends as we both live in the same area.  He took one look at my tooth and immediately said that I will need two new crowns.  Wait-what?  Why two new crowns?  I only chipped the one crown?  He explained that those crowns are not meant to last as long as they did and he’s not surprised that it chipped.  He suggested changing both of them so that the colors would match perfectly.  Besides, the older you get the more your gum lines recede and you can see a black/grey line at the top of my tooth from this inside metal of the crown.  Crazy thing is…  one of the grey lines was there side the first day I got my crown.  I was young and naive and didn’t want to say anything about it.  Boy, when you get older and have more experience you tend to really say what you need unlike when you are younger.

I left my dentist office feeling extremely disappointed.  I wasn’t ready to book the appointment to start the process of two new crowns.  I remember having tears.

I wanted to know if there was a faster way to get crowns.  I was wondering if the lab that makes the crowns was closer?  Is there a rush process?  I just had a girlfriend tell me that she sent crowns off to the lab and they weren’t right so she has to wait another two weeks.  This means she has been in temporary teeth for almost a month now!

I ended up going to happy hour with a few girlfriends talking about our week and sure enough one of my friends told me about a dentist that can do both crowns in the same day!  From start to finish.  Wait-what?  This technology exists?  There is a dental office out there that can do it all in house?  NO WAY?!!!

You guys…  I’ve been seeing my dentist for over 15 years.  The same dentist.  I love him.  I feel as though I am cheating on my dentist by calling someone totally new that I don’t even know all because he has a service that I need.  Do you guys feel that way also?  I tend to be very loyal.  He is in a small town.  I moved from that small town more than 10 years ago but I still drive out to see him.

I ended up putting my loyalty aside and I tried the new dentist that was right near my house.  It’s called Walden Dental in Austin, Texas.  This Austin dentist has a really easy virtual smile consult where I didn’t even have to go into his office in the beginning.

 

I just fixed both of my front teeth in ONE DAY!!! It took about 4 hours from start to finish.

Yes! Both crowns complete! These are not temporary teeth either. It’s done!!!
I had no idea that this was even an option to get this type of cosmetic dental procedure done in one day! Did you???

This was the start of the journey.  I submitted my virtual smile consult and received a Dr Frank video back explaining exactly how he could help me with different options that I hadn’t even considered!

I submitted a regular smile selfie and a close up showing my broken front tooth.  He talks about my teeth and what he sees and tells me exactly how I can fix them and how much it will cost!

This all happens before I even stepped one foot in his office.  That’s pretty important because you can immediately get a feel for the passion he has for his work and you know exactly how knowledgeable he is about your problem.

I was completely confident that he could help me before I even met him face to face.

 

During this virtual smile consult, Dr. Frank suggest I could get teeth whitening before we fix my front tooth.  We would want to do this first so we can get the color matched perfectly.

I had never, ever even considered getting my teeth whitened and yet, I was kind of excited about this.  All of a sudden I was looking forward to going to the dentist (those are words I’ve never said before).

This next photo is me a bit nervous going to the dentist.  I’ve arrived at the Walden Dental Austin location located at 9800 N Lake Creek Pkwy, Unit 150, Austin, TX 78717 right next to Sam’s Club.

 

I went in the day before getting my front tooth fixed to get my whitening treatment.  It was fairly easy and no pain at all.

 

The process was easy.  You basically sit under a light for 15 minute increments.  Easy and pain free.

 

The next day I went in to get my front tooth fixed.  I get to meet Dr. Frank in person and start the procedure.  He does an examination and explains in detail what to expect.

 

This is my view while sitting in the dentist chair as he is explaining how he plans to fix my tooth.   Basically, he will remove the current crowns that need to be replaced and create two brand new crowns!

First, I started with numbing solution and then the procedure was underway.

After doing a scan to get the right measurements.  Next, he has a very high tech machine that basically carves out the tooth!  This was amazing to see in person!

After the tooth is shaped, then it needs to be color matched.  This is where a bit of art comes into play.  Dr Frank is meticulous about matching the color.  He even carved out the same types of groves (or nature lines) I have in my regular teeth so they don’t look like crowns at all.  You can’t even tell the difference!

 

After that then he bakes the tooth and this is where it gains it’s strength!

It almost seems as if the easiest part is putting the teeth back on me.

The whole process takes about 4 hours so this can be done in a day.  If you don’t have a dentist near you, you could easily fly in to see him!  I would do this if he wasn’t close to me.  He’s that good!

This is me leaving Dr. Frank and I am a happy camper!  Look at those shiny teeth!

Dr. Frank put confidence back in my smile!  My husband snapped a photo of me wearing my favorite apron! Haha!  Dr. Frank is my new dentist!  My whole family will start seeing him.  He’s absolutely amazing.  I couldn’t be happier than I am now.   If you need a new dentist, give him a try!  You won’t be disappointed!  Promise!