Dental practice question: I was getting my tooth cleaned the other day?

and my porcelain crown was broken by the metal vibrating tool the dental hygenist using.





Hygenist told me probably it was an old porcelain crown..She said typically crowns dont break like that...I dont belive that crown was older than 3-4 years...





I have a dilemna here, if i did not get my tooth cleaned i was not going to get my crown broken.





Getting a new crown is going to cost me some money $1000+ , $1500 or so...





On the other hand dentist or hygenist cant be responsible for every teeth they are cleaning.





What is the common practice dentists follow for these types of situations.. can i expect them to fix my crown free of charge??


Should i share 50% 50%. I really did not need this expense right now...





Thanks for all the answers....

Dental practice question: I was getting my tooth cleaned the other day?
If you talk to your dentist, I'm sure you guys can come up with an amicable settlement. If the crown was cracked prior to the scaling, the hygienist should have said something about it and been more careful in the area. If the dentist you are currently seeing did place the crown, that would give strentgh to your argument that you should not have to pay for re-treatment.





No, crowns do not last forever; but with proper treatment, they can last up to 20 years. I have had patients who have had their crowns for even longer than that.





As previously stated, talk to your dentist....Most cases are treated on an individual basis and the doctor will want you to continue to be a satisfied patient. You can request that the dentist that did place the crown in question forward your file to your current dental office to show exactly how "old" it is, too.
Reply:Porcelain crowns do not last forever. Actually, 3-4 years is about right. Stainless silver last a little longer - 5-6 years and gold should last forever. Regardless of whether you had your teeth cleaned or not, the porcelain would have eventually broken. I do not think the hygientist was responsible at all. It was already a little cracked and needed one more thing to break it. If you had broken it on a shell of popcorn at a movie theater, would you ask the theater to help pay for the replacement? Nope.
Reply:NO question about this one--- the dentist is responsible for whatever damage his staff may inflict on his patients--the crown should be replaced for free---did you talk to him about it? You must ASAP and you should've the day of the cleaning--and if there is any question from him about the status of the crown prior to the cleaning- he usually takes xrays every 6 months which would prove the integrity of the crown prior to the cleaning- and if you're lucky, she took xrays prior to your cleaning- my dentist does------if you get any hassle---tell him you're calling an attorney.......this should not come from your pocket!!
Reply:I understand your frustration. It is very nerve-raking to be working on someone and a filling falls out or something breaks. That instrument is an ultrasonic cleaner. It vibrates to clean tartar and stain off the teeth. Did any of your other teeth break off? No, I doubt it. Something was not right with that crown and it just showed up with the vibration. Porcelain cracks...think of a china plate. It doesn't take much to break it. If the dentist did not make that crown for you then he has no obligation to you to fix it for free. Even if he had made the crown, a guarantee on a crown is usually only good for a year anyway. As a hygienist I know she probably feels very bad about it happening, but it really is not her responsibility to fix it. Things break......it just sometimes happens while you are at the dentist.
Reply:I can understand your frustration - your were there to have your dental health improved, not made worse! The tool the dental hygienist was using sounds like an ultrasonic scaler. Unless grossly misused, this would not have cracked or fractured a porcelain crown. Most likely causes would be that the crown already had a hairline crack in it (like a coffee mug handle that hasn't broken off yet) or it could be related to the way that the crown was fabricated at the lab (however, if this was the cause, it probably would have cracked sooner than this).





You should discuss your concerns with the dentist. If the crown was placed by her/him, then you have a stronger case for not being fully responsible for the cost of a new crown. If your dentist has recommended a nightguard for you (to protect your teeth from grinding) and you have not followed this recommendation, then you have a much weaker case.





I hope this helps. Good luck!
Reply:This is a tough one. As a dental hygienist, I've seen this happen before. The same thing happened to another hygienist I was working with. In that situation, she too was using an ultrasonic cleaner, aka cavitron, and part of the porcelain on the patients crown chipped off. Of course the patient was distraught, rightfully so, she spent alot of money on that crown. Luckily the hygienist had taken intraoral pictures that had shown the porcelain was already chipping. Since the porcelain structure was already compromised, the vibration from the cavitron acted like an earthquake would to a building that was structurally unsound. What did the dentist say when he did your exam? In this situation it's hard to say whether your crown was already cracked waiting to fall apart(usually due to forces exerted while chewing, etc) or if it was negligence on the part of the hygienist. In my opinion, I think it was the crown itself. It's really hard to damage a tooth with a cavitron unless you aggressively use it improperly. I wish you luck with this and hope you can get this resolved.