Book 10 of 2015

The Southern California Dental Patient Guidebook; Perfect Crowns and Smiles by Dr. Steven J. Sutherland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To start with I am a little confused with what the real title to this book is since the picture of the cover gives the title as "The Southern California Patient Guidebook Perfect Crowns and Smiles in One Day" by Steven J. Sutherland DDS but the title page gives the title as "The Southern California Patient Guide to Same Day Cosmetic Crowns." Personally I think it was originally the latter but was changed to the first one (only the title page wasn't changed) since it was much more fitting for this book. This book is way more than just a book about cosmetic crowns. It is a plug for Dr. Steven Sutherland's office, Torrance Dental Arts and tells what he has to offer but it is also fantastic information on dentistry and the new technology no matter where you live.

The book explains the importance of a good smile cosmetically speaking: appearance. It explains how we are judged as a person on our smile and although I want to say people are not this superficial and we are judged on our performance in the work place or our personality in social gatherings, there is no denying the fact that our smiles (or lack of) play a part in how we are perceived by others. Examples are given to support this statement which I have seen and heard some of these 'prejudices' myself.

Also what is explained, traditional dentistry being done today for crowns is messy and uncomfortable with the goop in your mouth needing to harden so impressions can be made which leads to imperfect fits and reducing the strength, and it is time consuming requiring multiple appointments spread over weeks, months or even a year. However there is a new process (Perfect Teeth in a Daytm) and material Cerec® (ceramic) that makes it 3x stronger than traditional porcelains that can be used so you can literally go to this dentist (or the handful of others that use it) and have your crowns and veneers done in a couple of hours so you can walk out of that one office appointment with your new smile.

The book explains a lot on the hows and whys and even goes into the importance of good teeth for your health. Some of the information I didn't know and some I did. However I didn't think the book went into this deep enough. Yes, we all want a smile to be proud of or at least to be able to smile without being self conscious about it as far as cosmetic reasons and the book explained this well but the fact that your teeth play such an important role in your overall health was just too brief. I especially say this about the part it mentions Temporal-mandibular-joint-dysfunction (TMJD) where it is only referred to as your jaw clicks. It is far wider and much more severe than just a 'click' when you open and shut your mouth. I know this from personal experience where I had to have an operation on my jaw on one side (because the joint on that side 'locked' my mouth shut) when I was young and I continue to have 'flare ups' of the other side (side not operated on) as recently as last year. A flare up consists of the most severe pain you can imagine. It isn't just confined to the area of your joint either. Every tooth on that side, both top and bottom ached, the pain went across my face to the joint area which hurt and gave me a very painful earache but didn't limit to that area either. It went up to my temple giving me a severe headache and down my face on that side into my neck and shoulder area. I don't mean this was a little pain either, it was the worse pain I have ever felt. It was sharp and made labor and natural childbirth feel like a vacation. All I could do is lay in bed and cry. Don't open your mouth, don't lift your head. The pain so so intense it even made me sick to my stomach. Eating and functioning in everyday life was not an option and nothing took this pain away except time, anti-inflammatory (not pain medicine, they did nothing), and a heating pad. (I know one would think ice but heat was all that worked to help lessen it). I went to several Dr. (with barf bag and heating pad) and specialists that cost over $2,000 which insurance does not pay for TMJD for some reason and I was told no dental insurance pays for it. So the importance of a proper bite is a bit under explained both physically and financially in the book.

What is explained well is this is not just a cosmetic dentist since they do everything and take everything into consideration. They make sure your bite is good, your teeth go well with your jaw and facial structure, just to name a few. They do the cosmetic work but they also do root canals, tooth extractions, cleanings, etc. They are a dentist that you can go to and have your root canal and crown done in one visit and the same day.

I just want to add I had a root canal done the day after I started this book and I'm still waiting for my appointment to get a crown with a different dentist. I hate having to go to one dentist for a cleaning and checkup then when something hurts, I make an appointment and go back to him for him to say that I need a root canal so he gives me a referral to another dentist. I have to make an appointment with the other dentist and wait a few days or week (in pain) and go to that appointment only to get that part done and be referred to yet another dentist for the crown. I still didn't find the dentist to do the crown! So for one tooth I already had 3 appointments: my regular dentist, then two appointments for the root canal since the first time it hurt so bad even with the maximum amount of Novocaine they still couldn't even touch the tooth so I had to take antibiotics for 3 days and again still in pain this whole time and go back, and to top that all off I need another 2 or 3 for the crown to be made. The financial cost of this is outrageous since now I need to consider the time missed from work for all these appointments. Although this was mentioned in the book, I just wanted to confirm that I know through personal experience it is true.

Lastly, I felt the ending was incomplete. The information is great, don't get me wrong but it just stops abruptly. This would be the perfect spot to add a line to conclude the book by 'plugging' Steven J. Sutherland's office one last time. Maybe something in the line of "Make your appointment today by calling Torrance Dental Arts at (xxx) xxx-xxxx."

*I received a free copy of this book for my honest review.

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