kodokan

I put them somewhere between UK NHS ones, and the private one I have here. The Swiss guy did some excellent work on my teeth, replacing a couple of 20+ year old silver ones that were ageing out, and using more conservative inlays rather than crowns. And a hygienist did a proper scraping, scratching clean, rather than the 1-2 minute polish the UK people did.

On the other hand, until I came here no-one had ever checked the depth of gum pockets, to evaluate the gum health. At first, I thought the dental office here was scamming for extra imaginary work, but they're always completely open and honest during check-ups (last time, I reminded him we're 'watching' another ageing filling and did it need doing now, but he said it's fine for another year or so so may as well leave it alone; he could easily ding our insurance as fillings are free so I'd just agree).

So apparently the gum pocket measuring thingie is best practice nowadays, and I just didn't know. It's working, too - I had a good scraping done, started actually flossing every day rather than just after eating steak, and my gums are MUCH better now. I've even just been downgraded from the 3-monthly to 6-monthly normal person check-ups. It's nice to have a good dentist, in whom I have a great deal of faith in his work and his integrity.

HartleyHare

There seems to be a big difference between US and UK regarding dental treatment. My UK dentist never did the whole "scale and polish" (or deep clean), yet I've had this at every visit here.

I did find the following article which made for interesting reading and may go some way to explaining why silver crowns are not routinely carried out in the UK:http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v1.../4812746a.html

I suppose it would have been nice to have had the procedure explained to you prior to the crown being fitted and for any alternatives to be discussed. This may well be the standard treatment here, and the mindset seems to very much be why wouldn't you want it done.

I changed dentists as my first one was a dragon I just checked on the insurance website and found another one in network.

kodokan

That was interesting. It seems to be that the UK dentists don't do silver crowns on children because...um... they don't do silver crowns on children, so consequently don't feel confident that they can fit them well, that the kids might not co-operate, that the whole thing will be a colossal time-consuming pain and they've got loads of other patients waiting and they don't get paid enough to take that sort of trouble, etc. Nothing, oddly, about whether simply filling the tooth is a clinically better treatment, just that it's less hassle and more cost-effective to do it that way.

Anyway, for the OP, I wouldn't worry overmuch about it. If it can be seen from the front, it's likely one of the teeth that'll come out sooner rather than later. At the time, my daughter's dental issues seemed HUGELY troublesome and all-encompassing; now she's 10, they're a distant, irrelevant memory. Make up a nice story for your daughter about sparkly princess crowns or pirates' gold teeth, whatever works best to make her feel positive about it (my 10 yr old girl still thinks it's fun and cool to have a huge bruise or cut to show off, so your daughter might actually quite like it herself even if it troubles the adults around her), and wait for it to fall out in a couple of years.

In the meantime, you might want to go along to your son's appointment if you want to be sure you're on hand personally to question the treatment they're recommending (although I'm assuming they talked it through with your wife, who must have agreed it and signed off on the fee).

Oh, and just spotted another thing - I think it's quite common for the 'free check ups and x-rays for new customers' deals to not cover the insured. Ours has those posters, with tiny small print about it not including people with insurance, as they get those services for free anyway. It's just a marketing ploy to get people in the door and signed up, as either way they personally don't have to pay for that initial visit. If you now go somewhere else, you'll probably find that you've used up your 'go' this year with your insurer for x-rays (and check ups for another 6 months), so it's probably simpler just to stick with this one if you're otherwise happy with how they've performed the treatment even if you're not keen on the treatment choice.

RICH

Not quite Tampa, but, not too far away. I have used the following for about 8 years, and am happy. For me- I don't know how they are with kids!

http://www.christinarudmandds.com/index.html

(Actually I use her affiliate office now, as I moved, which is not as Glossy).

kodokan

Mine is pretty bare bones and non-shiny too. My friend posted a FB pic a while back of her daughter in the waiting room to have her braces fitted, and it was all plush chairs, floor-to-ceiling fish tanks, and a bank of iPads set into a wall at kid-friendly height. Mine has a colouring book and box of pens for the kids, and some (at least recent) magazines for adults.

On the other hand, the difference in what we've paid for our kids' ortho treatments means we can buy our own iPads

Michael

Since the article didn't mention what procedure the dentists did use for badly decayed milk teeth, I wonder what they did. I doubt the NHS would pay for porcelain crowns for milk teeth so that the dentist wouldn't have to work so hard so there seems to be few options left.

dfrbrowne

Thanks for those replies they have eased my concerns somewhat.

HartleyHare

I think the options are either fill or extract. Although I did find the following link which seems to indicate that the service may be possible under the NHS, dependant upon a referral: http://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/media/...l%20crowns.pdf