galvanic shock

[olanda]

i'm experiencing what my dentist thinks is galvanic shock right now. i've got a gold inaly in LL6 and have just had an amalgam core for an onlay placed in LL7 (the dentist told me amalgam would be stronger than anything 'white'). i still haven't had the temporary inlay placed and so it's the amalgam core next to the gold inlay right now. i'm getting little shocks from this all the time, usually when i touch the LL6, which has the gold inlay.

my concern is that, in the future, a gold onlay will be placed on top of the amalgam core build up - will this not cause a galvanic shock response too?!!! if not, why not when the amalgam and gold i've currently got next to each other are reacting so much?

 

[DrMike]

as far as i'm aware a galvanic reaction only occurs in teeth next to or opposing each other rather than with a gold onlay or crown over an amalgam core. I may be wrong- what do the other dentists know about this?

regards
dr mike

 

[olanda]

can i just ask, would amalgam really have been better than any other material for a core build up for a gold onlay?

 

[DrMike]

difficult one to answer - it really depends on the tooth.
amalgam is certainly generally accepted to be a reasonable material for use as a core build up material.
as to whether it is better to use than any other material- i think i would personally opt for something else- but that is mainly because i don't use amalgam at all any more.
dr mike