Thanks....I ended up calling my overseas dentists and actually reached
them without much trouble.   First I talked to the endo-doc,  who said
"highly probable that it was designed that way" (but he had never seen
the crown so he couldn't be 100% sure)....and i realized at that point
that I'm in good shape.   I then confirmed it with my crown doc...and
he reminded me that we had discussed the fact that he was making the
metal surface, which I had forgotten.   I have to remember next time to
pay attention to what a  restored tooth looks like right after its
done!

One unrelated question:

OK, thanks.   After having all of my perio. cleanings (about 4-month
intervals) (and perio consultations) done overseas,  I'm now back in
the USA for good and am starting to look for a periodontist (which is
horrible because I'm in one of the most expensive areas of the USA and
the cost will be about 10 times more than what i was paying overseas,
and all my overseas dentists went to good US dental schools....anyway
back to my question).    Since there's a good chance I'll need gum
(flap?, maybe bone?) surgery at some point (some 6 mm pockets, and at
least one 7),  how would most periodontists react if, after a year or
two with them, I decided to try to save alot of money and get the
surgery done at a dental school.    What I mean is,  I assume my new
perio. doc is going to want to continue with 3-month cleanings for a
while to observe the pockets.....then after a year or so he'll probably
say "surgery time!".    At that point, I may want to try to use a
dental school (I really can't afford it otherwise).   But I don't want
to STOP using my perio doc....I would just want to get the surgery done
at the school.    Then go back to using my doc.    I would expect the
following problems, but what else?:   (1) most perio docs probably
would say "up to you, but not ideal because  the same doc who did the
surgery should be involved in post-surgery care and observation  (2)
the dental school probably wouldn't like it because they want me to
keep returning for observation???      But I would think I would
potentially save thousands by using a dental school.    Unfortunately,
the closest one is about 80 miles away (and in BAD traffic)....

Also, can you give me a rough idea what perio-docs charge for:
(1) hour-long perio cleanings  (I"m used to paying $35-$40 max
overseas, and its done by the periodontist himself.
(2) surgery of various kinds (flap,  graft,   etc.).
I realize there are huge variations in cost between cities and within
cities, though.