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Dentist claiming I need a procedure. Looking for advice.

  • Thread starter Thread starter rubmail96
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rubmail96

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Unedited: https://ibb.co/cn1f0v
Edited: https://ibb.co/giLJna


I visited my dentist last week simply for a check up because I have not been to the dentist in some time. I don't have any particular pain in my teeth that is worrying other than the slight soreness in some teeth that I get very rarely and only lasts for a short time.


On inspecting my teeth, he said they look healthy and then he took two bitewing x-rays which I took pictures of with my phone, which is not perfect image quality but is an accurate representation of the x-ray. I have uploaded the left x-ray both unedited and the edited version to help explain what he said below.


The right side he claims is fine.


On the left bitewing x-ray, he says "something is about to cause a lot of pain". I have uploaded the image of the left bitewing x-ray. He says that the tooth circled in red on the image is abnormal and claims that the disease process has gone through the enamel of the tooth where there is a dark spot (red arrow) and to defend/compensate against this process, more dentine has been deposited on the top right section of the image of that tooth (within red triangle) and that is why it is a different density and why you can't see part of the pulp on that side.


He also says that I should not leave the decision as to whether to get a filling or not for any longer than a month otherwise it will proceed and get worse and claims that if I leave it for 3 months, it's likely I'll need a root canal procedure done on the tooth. I was taken back by this because I have absolutely no pain in that tooth and it is not causing me trouble.


This dentist is very recently graduated and was scaring me so I asked my mum, who happens to have been a dentist for 20 years before she retired. She says that there is nothing particularly concerning about that tooth and a filling is unnecessary. She assures me that the caries process in my teeth are "arrested" and says that if the tooth was in as bad a condition as he claims, I would be in severe pain.


So now I am stuck between the opinion of two dentists, one of whom is young and inexperienced. If he turns out to be right, it will progress and I may need a root canal procedure done. If she turns out to be right, I will have had an unnecessary filling which I obviously don't want.


I thought some dentists could give me their advice as to what is going on and what the best course of action would be.
 
I'm pretty conservative in recommending treatment but if I were you, I'd get that tooth fixed as soon as possible. It looks to be a large cavity and the longer you wait, the higher the risk of the tooth needing a root canal.

Cavities of that size aren't typically arrested.

The lack of pain at this point is good. By the time the tooth starts hurting severely, it already needs a root canal.
 
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