Decay under all silver fillings?

[Yourbigpalal83]

I have to ask but im in a state of panic. Im reading on a few websites that if u have silver fillings almost always dispite how well you brush ull have decay under them. One youtube video even had a dentist say outright if there 5 years old ur gurenteed to have them. Now im paranoid wensday at my checkup with my new dentist this is going to happen to me! Whats the truth here? My fillings seem fine to me believe me i looked n i domt see any discoloration of the tooth or them pulling away or anything....

 

[brit]

One youtube video even had a dentist say outright if there 5 years old ur gurenteed to have them. ..

That's a load of rubbish and a downright lie. Amalgam fillings can last for decades before they begin to fail.
It seems there are a lot of unethical dentists in the USA - that YouTube one being a prime example.

With regard to your new dentist, I would say it is best to avoid 'corporate chain dentists' in the USA and to go to a dentist where you know the name of the person you are seeing and it is their own business so that they give a damn about their long-term reputation in the locality.

If they say you need any treatment, get a second opinion as I believe you got yourself sorted out 4 years ago with several fillings and that means your teeth should be stable now for ages, given your high quality oral care regime.

 

[Yourbigpalal83]

I will if this guy seems shady to idk he got good reviews and recomended by my neighbors. Im trying to find that youtube video now to show u but u deff calmed me down a bit...

[broken link removed]

At the 5:15 mark, she says clearly after 5 years all silver fillings have automatic decay.....

 

[carole]

I haven't watched the video but I have had fillings for at least 30 years and they have been okay. With nothing wrong. I don't think you have anything to worry about. There are a lot of stupid videos on the internet, meant to be dramatic and scare people half to death.

I choose not to look for these things, one everyone is different and two only by my own dentist seeing my mouth and discussing any problem areas can I get the truth of how things effect my mouth. You can not generalize because every problem is different.

 

[ImNotASpammerYouIdiots]

This is why the medical field irritates me to no end. Everyone in it disagrees. They're all "qualified," yet they can't agree on anything. So who is the non-medically inclined person to trust?

I've determined I can really only trust myself...which is a scary thought.

 

[Yourbigpalal83]

I agree. Its overwhelming n u dont know whats the truth n u just wana avoid any pain n problems and u feel hopeless that there saying u just cant.

 

[carole]

Choose people in the medical profession that you feel you can build up a trusting relationship with to treat you, and discuss all your options and worries with them. They can have a look at you and come up with a solution or if there is nothing to worry about they can put your mind at rest.

 

[comfortdentist]

Remember "the bigger the office the worse the care"
As to recurrent caries if you removed very old ones in the range of thirty years then yes under some of them you will find caries but not all of them and not at 5 years. I have removed many thousands over 25 years.

 

[Snowball]

Remember "the bigger the office the worse the care"
As to recurrent caries if you removed very old ones in the range of thirty years then yes under some of them you will find caries but not all of them and not at 5 years. I have removed many thousands over 25 years.

That said, I just had a very large filling removed to be replaced, that was only done in 2011, originally done in 2008 - and apparently there was some decay under it and a piece of the tooth fell off as the dentist was sorting it (about to have inlay fitted this evening).

I haven't had an x ray in over a year but wonder if it would have shown, if I had? I had no pain, just really minor discomfort that was fleeting, and rare -and only casually mentioned this at all, as I had a new dentist and she asked me if anything was bothering me, during a routine check up.

This scared me considerably - as this filling had already been re-done, in 2011 so was fairly 'recent' and as I say, only neglible twinges now and then. I had a sedative filling on it for over a month and when that came off to do the impression for the inlay, dentist said my nerve which ahd been inflamed, seemed 'recovered'.

So whilst decay under an amalgam filling is a rare thing - it can happen and with no warning. I was pretty horrified when she said she wanted to re-do the filling, and moreso when she found there was decay (and risk of RCT because of that) under it.

I'm left wondering how that could even happen? From what you say, comfortdentist, what happened to me is a very rare thing? (trust it to happen to a phobic) ) Was I just unlucky or should this have been detected sooner? (Dentist did file it down a bit in 2011, as I just thought my bite was out).

 

[Davee]

I cracked two silver fillings from clenching my teeth (a new recent habit that I am trying to break). These were 36 years old and they had no decay under them. Dentist filled them with white composite fillings. My x-rays do not show decay under the other four fillings. I received the fillings when I was 11 years old, and my dentist must have done a very good job at the time.

 

[soozypoo]

I still have a tooth that has 2 silver amalgam fillings in that were done when i was aout 13 and im almost 39 now and nothing has ever been picked up on that during anyof my dental checkups the only ones i had a problem with were gold onlays that were fitted around 10 years ago which had to be removed as im guessing the dentist that done them originally did not fit them correctly allowing decay to get underneath but the silver ones still seem as sound as the day they were done