Dr. Roger Druckman, D.D.S.

To begin, I’m very sorry that you had these terrible experiences at your dentist. I’m sure that he was trying to help you but obviously that wasn’t the outcome.
An answer could be that because you were numb the correct bite could not be reestablished and your teeth were not meshing properly since so many areas were numbed to do 7 fillings at one time.
The question of bacteria being carried from one tooth to another is not the cause of the problem. You can work on many teeth without infecting one tooth from another.
If the tooth preparations were deep because the cavities were deep is a likely cause of tooth sensitivity/ pain. If the decay was very deep but not definitely into the nerve then a root canal would not have been advised right away. Many teeth can have deep decay and not require root canals.
Basically, you could have had very deep cavities that should have had liners placed before the fillings were placed so that the nerves of the teeth would have been insulated from the new fillings. If the new fillings were composite/ tooth colored, they frequently cause sensitivity or pain to the teeth if a liner isn’t placed first.
Ask your dentist to take new x-rays so that the depth of the fillings can be assessed.
Ask your dentist to check your bite to correct any high spots and ensure that the teeth are meshing correctly..
Ask your dentist to pulp test your teeth to make sure the nerves are healthy and that isn’t what’s causing the pain.
Don’t ignore the pain. Go to your dentist and have everything brought back to a state of health.
Sincerely,
Dr. Druckman

Dentures can be made to look natural.
The first step is to make sure that the vertical height of occlusion (the height of the face with the jaw closed and at rest) appears normal. If your mouth is over closed it will look like you have dentures even if the tooth shape and shade are perfect.
Next you need to have your dentist make sure that your lips have the proper support and that you don’t look as if your face is sunken in. However, sometimes that is difficult if you had a lot of bone recession.
Next is select the correct tooth size for the height and width of your smile. Once that is done you need to select the appropriate shape of the teeth. The shapes vary and you need to select the best tooth set up for your personality and or, what you want to look like. They can vary from natural, to aggressive, to athletic, etc.
The next thing to do is select the correct shade and then even have the dentist set the six front teeth to make sure you love them.
To get the height of the face and the lip support done correctly you need to have your dentist try in “wax rims” which are the dentures without any teeth. Once that first step is done you go on to the steps of selecting the tooth.
However, to save the best for last; the absolute first thing that must be done is have the dentist take preliminary impressions and then get custom trays made for final impressions. Next, the dentist must do border molding with a special wax called “green or brown compound.” This will enable the dentist to take a final impression that will result in the dentures having an excellent fit so you’ll have great retention without denture adhesives.
In summary, there are a lot of steps that must be taken to get natural looking dentures.
Sincerely,
Dr. Druckman

Yes, that does happen. Typically, when a tooth requires a root canal you also require a crown for that tooth. If a crown is required then the shade of the crown is selected to match your other teeth. If a crown isnt required you can bleach that tooth to lighten the color.

HI, Yes, you need to wear a retainer after Invisalign. With regular braces you wear a retainer full time for six months, then at night for six months, then every other night for six months and then you're done. However, there are times when the dentist will have the patient wear bonded lingual retainers (wires that are bonded to the tongue side of the teeth) forever. Nevertheless, when functional appliances were used to grow the maxillary and mandibular bone the teeth are more stable and bonded lingual retainers are typically not required just regular retainers. Getting back to the Invisalign, absolutely wear the retainers. Sincerely, Dr. Druckman

Hi, While there are times that you can straighten a few teeth, it is not typical. Molar uprighting is an example of a case in which you only need to straighten a few teeth. In the case of molar uprighting the second molar tilts forward into the space of the first molar which was extracted and the second molar needs to be uprighted so that a bridge can be made to replace the missing first molar. Or, the second molar is uprighted so that an implant can be placed and have the resulting implant crown fabricated with normal first molar anatomy. I hope this was helpful. Sincerely, Dr. Druckman

Hi, If your gums hurt it could be a generalized gingivitis or if its localized it could be a periodontal infection. What you need to do is come into the office for the required x-rays to evaluate the bone and also evaluate the soft tissue, the gums. Treatment would depend upon the examination findings but it should be looked at as soon as possible. Sincerely, Dr. Druckman

Hi, It actually depends upon the type of implant. There are mini implants and standard implants and the main difference between them is the diameter of the implant. With standard implants the dentist drills a hole in the bone the same diameter as the implant and places the implant into the bone and then will wait about 6 months for the implant to integrate with the bone. Following this a second surgery is sometimes required to expose the implant to place an abutment to start the restorative process. With a mini implant the dentist drills a hole into the bone that is smaller in diameter than the diameter of the implant. The implant is then inserted into the bone by turning it as you would turn a screw into wood. In most cases only this one surgery is required and the crown can be placed on the implant immediately because the implant is held solidly by the bone. Therefore, two surgical procedures for a standard implant and one for a mini implant is a valid summation. However, there are one piece standard implants that can have the crown placed immediately also. I hope that this explanation was helpful. Sincerely, Dr Druckman

The first thing to do is have your dentist use pressure indicator paste to relieve the sore spots caused by the denture. The next thing is to reline the denture with tissue conditioner. You might need several relines with the tissue conditioner to get the gums completely healed. The next step is to have a new set of dentures made. I start the new dentures with a preliminary impression to get a custom impression tray which I then border mold to get an accurate impression of all the muscle attachments and then a final impression before going to the wax rim for esthetics and establishing the vertical dimension of occlusion and selecting the teeth for size, shape and shade. It is not a fast process.

Hi,
You should get an appointment with a dentist and find out if you need antibiotics due to an infection around the gum line of any of the wisdom teeth. Once the infection is under control you could have one of your dentists take out the wisdom teeth.
Sincerely,
Dr. Druckman