Fixing "Turkey Teeth": How a Revision Is Assessed and What It Costs
If you had crowns or veneers fitted abroad and something is not right, you are not the first person to sit in this chair and you will not be treated as a cautionary tale. Turkey teeth repair is now a routine part of the week here: sensitivity that has not settled, a bite that feels a fraction too high, a crown edge you can catch with a fingernail, a front tooth that has gone grey at the gum. This page explains how a revision is assessed, what can usually be kept, and what the remake costs, so you can decide with numbers instead of dread.
| The revision assessment | |
|---|---|
| What you send first | photographs, your panoramic X-ray if you have one, the treatment paperwork or quote from the original clinic |
| What happens in Tirana | CBCT where roots or implants are involved, clinical examination, bite check, digital photographs |
| Who reads it | The dentist who will treat you, personally |
| First consultation and CBCT review | Free |
| Typical days for a remake of front teeth | 3–5 days in Tirana, one visit |
| If a root or a fixture is involved | two visits, months apart, and the plan says so from the start |
| Guarantee on the new work | 5 years on crowns and veneers, 5 on implants we place |
Send three photographs, teeth apart, teeth together and a natural smile, plus any paperwork you were given abroad. You will get a written assessment of what is salvageable and what is not, with prices per tooth.
What people actually arrive with
Six patterns account for most of it. Crowns that were sold as veneers: the enamel was reduced all the way round rather than a thin layer from the front, so what you have is a crown, whatever the invoice calls it. Shade and shape that do not match the face: very white, very uniform, too long, and often too bulky at the gum line. Sensitivity to cold months later, which can mean an irritated nerve under a deep preparation. A crown that was fitted over a tooth needing root treatment, or over a root canal that was not completed. Bridges that do not seat fully, so the margin traps food. And a bite where one or two teeth meet before the rest, which shows up as jaw fatigue and chipping.
None of this means the work was done by bad hands. Volume treatment compresses decisions that need time: shade trials, mock-ups, a second look at a doubtful nerve. When twenty teeth are prepared and delivered inside a week, there is no room in the schedule for the tooth that turns out to need something else.
What can be saved, and what cannot
Most teeth can be saved. A crown can be cut off and replaced without harming what is underneath if the preparation left enough sound tooth and the nerve is healthy. A crown with a poor margin but a comfortable, quiet tooth beneath it is a straightforward remake.
Three situations are harder. A tooth prepared so aggressively that little structure remains may need a post and core, or it may be beyond restoring. A root canal that failed under a crown needs retreatment before anything new goes on top, and the root canal page explains how that is judged and staged. A tooth with a vertical crack below the gum cannot be rescued, and then the honest plan is removal and an implant later, which we will say plainly rather than crown over it.
The CBCT is what separates these groups, which is why the assessment does not happen from photographs alone.
What a revision costs here
| Work | Price |
|---|---|
| Zirconia crown, remade | €150–250 each |
| E-max veneer, where a veneer is genuinely indicated | €200–350 each |
| Root canal retreatment with a new crown | €200–350 |
| Extraction where a tooth cannot be kept | €100–200 |
| Implant and crown replacing a lost tooth | €450–650 |
| Three-unit bridge remade in zirconia | €400–600 |
| Twenty E-max veneers, a complete front remake | €4,000–7,000 |
Removing old work takes chair time that new work does not, and it occasionally reveals a problem the scan hinted at. Both of those go on the plan as named lines with prices, not as a contingency.
Write on WhatsApp at +355 69 691 1118 with your photographs if you would rather ask two quick questions than fill in a form. You will be answered by a dentist, not a sales desk.
How the visit is sequenced
Day one is examination, CBCT, photographs, shade and shape discussion, and the removal of the old work where the plan calls for it, with temporaries fitted the same day. Days two to four are the laboratory stage, with try-ins so the shape and shade are agreed before anything is cemented. Day five or six is the fit, the bite adjustment and the photographs for your file. You leave with the material specification, the laboratory record and a night guard if your bite needs protecting.
Where a nerve or an implant is in the picture, the sequence slows down deliberately: the tooth is treated and settled first, and the final crown comes later, sometimes on a second trip. A revision done fast is how the problem started.
If your work turns out to be fine
It happens often enough to be worth saying. Teeth that feel wrong sometimes need a bite adjustment measured in tenths of a millimetre, and sometimes they need nothing at all. If that is the answer, that is the answer you get, and we will not recommend replacing twenty crowns to fix two. The same principle governs the second opinion service: you send the quote, you get a reading of what is necessary, what is optional and what is missing.
FAQ
Can crowns fitted abroad be removed safely?
Usually, yes. A crown is cut away in sections and lifted off, and with a healthy tooth underneath and adequate remaining structure, the tooth is unharmed. The risks are known in advance from the CBCT and the examination: a thin remaining wall, a post already cemented deep in the root, or an existing crack. Where removal is likely to weaken a tooth further, that tooth is discussed separately before anything is started, with the alternatives priced.
How do I know whether I was given crowns or veneers?
Look at the paperwork and then at the teeth. A veneer covers the front surface and part of the edge, and the tooth behind it keeps most of its enamel. A crown covers the whole tooth to the gum on all sides. If your teeth were filed to small tapered shapes before fitting, or if temporaries were cemented all the way round, you have crowns. The distinction, and why it matters for the future of the tooth, is set out on veneers versus crowns.
How much does it cost to redo eight crowns?
Eight zirconia crowns at €150–250 each gives the range for the crowns themselves. Add root canal retreatment at €200–350 for any tooth that needs it, and the occasional extraction and implant where a tooth cannot be kept. The written plan lists every tooth, so the total is a sum of named lines rather than an estimate. Our crown materials and how monolithic zirconia differs from layered are described on the zirconia crowns page.
Do I have to send my old quote and records?
It helps a great deal and it is not compulsory. The old quote tells us which system was used, whether abutments and root treatments were included, and what was promised, which shortens the diagnosis. If you have nothing, photographs and a panoramic X-ray are enough for a first opinion, and the rest is gathered on day one in Tirana. Anything you send stays in your file and is not shared.
Will you criticise the clinic that treated me?
No. You will get a description of what is in your mouth now, what it needs, and what it will cost, without commentary on who did it or where. Naming and blaming does not restore a tooth, and patients who have already had a bad experience are owed a plan rather than a lecture. If you want the paperwork reviewed dispassionately before you travel again, send it and you will get exactly that.
Use the second opinion form to upload your photographs, your X-ray and any paperwork from the original treatment. The dentist who will treat you reviews it and writes back within 24 hours with what can be kept, what must be remade and the price of each tooth.
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