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Dentist--excellent crown work


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I've mentioned this before, but Dr. Barragan's office. I had a bad root canal experience with another and didn't want to go through with that again. They were super, super gentle and made sure I never felt the actual numbing medication (used a gel and went OTT to ensure the actual needle wouldn't be felt). When you pay cheap, you usually get cheap. Dr. Barragan may not be the cheapest, but when it comes to root canals/crowns, he's definitely one of the best.

If it's just a crown (no root canal), Dra. Rocio does an excellent job and it'll be ready the same day since she has the 3D printer. I'm amazed at how natural they look. (FTR, she was NOT the one who did the bad root canal.)

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1 hour ago, Tingting said:

I've mentioned this before, but Dr. Barragan's office. I had a bad root canal experience with another and didn't want to go through with that again. They were super, super gentle and made sure I never felt the actual numbing medication (used a gel and went OTT to ensure the actual needle wouldn't be felt). When you pay cheap, you usually get cheap. Dr. Barragan may not be the cheapest, but when it comes to root canals/crowns, he's definitely one of the best.

If it's just a crown (no root canal), Dra. Rocio does an excellent job and it'll be ready the same day since she has the 3D printer. I'm amazed at how natural they look. (FTR, she was NOT the one who did the bad root canal.)

Where is Dr Barragan's office located ? I  had a root canal done by a dentist in Chapala and it is still causing me pain 😒

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... and you are right to say Dr. Barragan's "OFFICE", not just Barragan himself. Last year I had to have a root canal (prior to crowns). Dra. Cynthia Berny... who is BTW Dr. Barragan's wife..... did the work. I have NEVER had such gentle dentistry. When one has a root canal and doesn't have any associated pain (including like you said, the numbing procedure) one knows that one is in good hands.... pun intended!

The office is at Bugambilias #39. It 'fronts' the carretera.

 

 

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8 hours ago, Tingting said:

 

If it's just a crown (no root canal), Dra. Rocio does an excellent job and it'll be ready the same day since she has the 3D printer. I'm amazed at how natural they look. (FTR, she was NOT the one who did the bad root canal.)

Could you let me/us know where this Dentista practices?  I didn't know that there was anyone in Ajijic doing the 3D stuff other than Dental Express.

Gracias

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She's right above Panache in that little strip to the right of Bugambilias Plaza. If you cross the street on the same side, there's a parking area first  for Fedex, Dermika, Maria's, etc. The main  building to their right is where she's located on the 2nd floor. There should be a sign for Ajijic Dental. The 3D printer is just amazing (yes, I'm easily amused). Hope that helps!

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Yes, everyone will be doing 3D before long and labs will be like the caboose on a train.

I misspoke before saying that Dental Express was doing 3D printing. They ARE using CAD/CAM principles but instead of the 'additive' 3D printing procedure they are using a 'subtractive' milling machine process. The former builds up (prints) a tooth and the latter 'whittles' down a small block to become a tooth.   I'm still amazed that one, in little Ajijic Mexico, can have either of these technologies that produce a 'perfect' tooth (crown/bridge) while you wait. And with amazing margins for a great fit. No more 'wait for 10 days to 2 weeks' for a crown to come back from the lab... and maybe be sent back because it was not molded quite to perfection and won't fit properly.

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On 11/18/2021 at 8:19 PM, RickS said:

Crown..amazing margins for a great fit

I had this procedure about 20 months ago at Dental Express, and after about 10 months the molar crown became a bit loose.  I believe it can be glued down easily when I return in a few months, but the restoration is thus imperfect.  And please be aware that the subtractive shaping of the crown required (in my case, anyway) that it is composed of a tough polymer of some sort, not metal and/or porcelain.  At my age, I feel this approach represents good design thinking, so long as it actually works...

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18 minutes ago, utilitus said:

I had this procedure about 20 months ago at Dental Express, and after about 10 months the molar crown became a bit loose.  I believe it can be glued down easily when I return in a few months, but the restoration is thus imperfect.  And please be aware that the subtractive shaping of the crown required (in my case, anyway) that it is composed of a tough polymer of some sort, not metal and/or porcelain.  At my age, I feel this approach represents good design thinking, so long as it actually works...

OK, I should qualify the process at Ajijic Dental. I was told it was 3D, but after reading Rick's posting, I should add that it was the "subtractive" method. Either way, I'm pleased as punch. My teeth were always great for a very long time but age caught up with me and I started having problems. Yeah, it's vanity but I was really, really upset with that first crown (not the 3D) because it was so obvious when I opened my mouth. Long story short, when this new method was available, I had old crowns replaced because I was amazed at how much more natural they were. Not perfect, but it was no longer "in your face" whenever I smiled or laughed. We really do live in some amazing times!

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4 hours ago, utilitus said:

I had this procedure about 20 months ago at Dental Express, and after about 10 months the molar crown became a bit loose.  I believe it can be glued down easily when I return in a few months, but the restoration is thus imperfect.  And please be aware that the subtractive shaping of the crown required (in my case, anyway) that it is composed of a tough polymer of some sort, not metal and/or porcelain.  At my age, I feel this approach represents good design thinking, so long as it actually works...

Sorry to hear that you had a crown come loose.... that happened to me years ago and has more to do with the 'setting' of the crown than the crown itself.

My 3-tooth bridge was 'cut from a block' of Zirconia for strength.... MUCH harder than porcelain-on-metal. It is basically two crowns with a 'floating' pontic tooth between. So strength of the product is very important. 

When it came time last year to put in two new molar crowns on the other side, created by the CAD/CAM 'subtractive' milling machine, Dr. Edgar at Dental Express said to me that he would NOT use a Zirconia upper crown because 'it is so hard that it might crack the porcelain-on-metal crown down below'. So 'something' less hard was cut down. 

BTW, that bridge has such good margins still after 3 years that I cannot use floss on it... can't thread the floss through from outside to inside.... so must use a Water Pic device. I'm happy. 

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An excellent dentist (in either Thailand or Costa Rica - can't recall) once explained that restorations definitely should be floss-able.  I just did a little research, and that seems to be the case.   When I was in grad school, I had some work done at the UCSF dental clinic and they took great pains ;) to engineer what they considered 'ideal' contact margins.

Interestingly, my search just now found seemingly responsible articles (some from the UK!) discussing research questioning the value of flossing.  

 

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  • 7 months later...

It was because of the recommendations for Dr. Barragan on this site  that when a crown fell off my molar a week or two after i got here.that I made an appt at his office.    I got Dr. Sonia who excavated all of the decay etc under the crown and put in some sort of filling which she said would last except due to a split in the tooth - which she showed me with a hand mirror- i would need a crown which I agreed to have. 

 

 The cost for it was 9000 pesos - about double what a neighbor had just paid for his but to save a tooth, i spend what is necessary.  .  I went back the second time and she removed the first packing - spent an hour and a half or so drilling the tooth - packed it with a temporary crown after she had taken a mold for a permanent one to send off to the lab.  Two weeks later I returned thinking that what she was doing was putting in the permanent crown.  However, at the end of the visit she told me thait was another temporary one and I would have to come back in three weeks for the permanent one - - but in the meantime she had found two cavities (800 pesos each to be filled--again showing me something with the hand mirror that i guess was a cavity) ) and I also needed  a cleaning so she wanted me back for those things in two days.  I told her no - that Ihad an appt to have a deep cleaning in August with another doctor in the practice and had had my teeth cleaned two days before I left for Mexico on May 1.i spent hours in the perdiodontist office before i left - and no mention of cavities- 

Anyway I now have some sort of  of crown that is not setting correctly -and seems to be losing bits and pieces of whatever it is made of.

I will go back since they have my 9000 pesos and  hope at some point I get a well fitting permanent crown.  -I I appreciate that people have different experiences - but mine have not encouraged me to continue with that practice.   Perhaps if I had gotten Dr. Barragan himself, things would have been different.  

 

 

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Dottiejane--Yes, you should have made your appointment with the dentist who was highly recommended. He's excellent.

I think you've had a horrible experience. But do you want to return to the person who seems to have done a lousy job? I'm not sure if Dr. Barragon can step in on this matter--not sure how staff problems get settled. But you should say something to somebody.

Lexy

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No I don't want to return to her but it is a sticky wicket as they say - she was assigned tome and i have never seen anyone else there on the times went. I am not sure that Barragna would take over at this point - she is a staff person and so far hasnt killed me.  The other problem s that she is not really fluent in english and i am totally without spanish so communication is hard.  I am going to pretty much tell her in some language she can undestand that this experience has been horrible and it better be fixed with no further charge.  I have a feeling she is a new hire and given new patients and perhaps she is the crown lady - who knows - anything else in my teeth will go to barragan - d

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One thing I've learned here is that when it comes to recommendations for darn near anything, but especially medical and dental issues, you're still taking your chances and your experience may vary from the ones making the recommendation.

When I arrived 6 years ago, there was one "darling" amongst the expat community for implants. Against my gut feeling, I had her do two implants at what for me was considerable expense. Long story short, her brother who was not a full-fledged dentist did the fitting of the teeth and did the job poorly. One of the teeth kept falling out (how I didn't swallow it is beyond me) and the dentist offered no solution. After one excruciatingly painful visit I gave up and have never been back; I live with the gap. There are still people who swear by her.

I, too, have seen Dra. Sonia. When I thought I needed a crown for a back molar, she said it was unnecessary at this point because what had broken off was actually a very old filling. She cleaned it up, re-filled it with an epoxy, cured it with a light device, polished it and it feels and acts like a new tooth. I think it was $600 mxn instead of the cost I thought I was going to incur. So, based on my experience I would recommend her.

There are members of the office staff who speak English well. Ask one of them to act as translator between you and the Dra. I have felt that there is a genuine desire to make the patient's experience a good one in that office, so insist it is made right.

Bueno suerte.

 

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