Black marks - cavities?

[badgerwithagun]

I have black discolouration in the pits of several teeth, and one - when I run my tongue over it I can feel what I think is a tiny hole.....but when I look at the tooth I can't see any hole. No matter how much I brush, the black discolouration won't go away and it's been there for quite a long time (a couple of years at least). I don't smoke or drink coffee and I'm concerned that the black marks are cavities. Is there any way I can tell without going to a dentist? I'm terrified of getting fillings, but I haven't been to the dentist for at least 8 years and I know I have at least a couple of teeth which need fillings because they have obvious holes in them (they're small though). But it's bad enough thinking I need fillings in these teeth without finding out that all the black stains are ALSO cavities and need fillings.

How likely is it that all these black stains are actually cavities, given that I don't smoke or drink coffee to stain my teeth? I'm really scared that I'll need lots of fillings and I've never had any before.

 

[letsconnect]

It sounds more likely that it's just staining .

 

[doomflower]

I agree with lets. I have similar unsightly stains on my back molars, even after a thorough cleaning. However, I'm getting them bleached later this month, so we'll see if those stains disappear at all. I'll let you know!

 

[lilone]

My old dentist filled what he called stains. Is that normal? He told me I had to get some fillings. but during the procedure I had a freakout and he couldn't finish. When I was upset about having to come back he said not to worry, that they were just stains anyway (there were two that weren't done). Upsetting to me, is that the 2 "stains" that he left were bigger than the one that he filled on my lower tooth. I couldn't believe it when he told me I needed a filling on that tooth because I couldn't even see the cavity or stain! A slight tea coloured line if you looked closely in certain light. The white filling is more unsightly than the so called cavity. I never went back to that dentist after and at the next one I went to the hygenist asked me if that was a fissure seal! I said I had never had fissure sealing done and she was surprised. When the dentist came in though he recorded it as a "tiny composite". He also confirmed that the two that were left untouched were stains and that they were hard and he saw no reason to fill them. I wish the prior dentist had started with them, as they are more unsightly, but ah well. What's done is done. Sorry for the long winded complaint! I didn't mean to write this...it just came out! But essentially what I am saying is that it depends on the dentist and how conservative he is. If you don't like the first opinion, get a second from someone else. You may be told you have lots of cavities by one and that you have virtually none by another. Neither is wrong.

 

[Andria]

Hi,

I have black marks on the fissures on my molars. They are stains and my dentist says aslong as the surface remains hard, they won't need filled. I had my teeth fissure sealed in my teens and only needed my first filling 3 month ago, but i don't know if this affected the marks because i can't remember exactly when i first noticed them.