Black spot on recently filled tooth...?

[scared0902]

I just brushed and noticed a miniscule black dot on a tooth that was recently filled. I thought it was a saliva bubble or a piece of food, so I brushed that tooth again. It's still there. Although, to be fair, I'm sure the average person wouldn't have noticed it in a million years.

It doesn't look like decay, but I guess it could be? It almost looks like a dot made by a pen or something. I had that tooth filled about a month ago. Can decay grow on top of a composite filling and in four weeks? I've been religious about what I eat and brushing. I use chlorhexadine once a day, brush for two minutes three times a day and/or whenever I eat, floss with regular floss once a day, and with a Reach flosser once a day, and use precription flouride at night. If I have decay after all of that, I give up! (I know it seems like a crazy regime, but I can't stop with the recurrent decay even with changes in diet and normal care, so this is really my only option.)

Or could it be a mark from the filling?

I'm going in for a TMJ consult and treatment this week (with a doctor not a dentist) and need to pay off my last round of treatment before having more done! Plus, my jaw is so messed up at this point, and I'm not sure what more dental work would do to it!

 

[annie778]

prob just a stain. I have two tiny pits at the side of my wisdom teeth that look like dark dots due to staining, but they have never decayed.

 

[scared0902]

Thanks! I needed to hear that--I'm just obsessing!

 

[Dr. Shirley]

hello scared,

It's great you noticed and are aware of what is going on in your mouth and with your teeth.

It sounds like something pretty innocent from a tooth health standpoint. It can be from your bite, stain, groove on your tooth that has natural stain, and possibly a indentation in the composite. I would recommend that you have your dentist take a look at it and address it since it would be in it's innocent stage at this point. Sounds like it'd be a very simple solution if it's evaluated in the near future.

Cherio to your great oral hygiene! I think your oral hygiene beats that of us dentists by a mile.

Best to you,
Dr. Shirley