Is there any reason I would HAVE to get a silver / mercury filling?

[Jojo3399]

Around 10 years ago I had huge dental issues (you can read about them on the forum and also thankfully an update with an eventual success story, to hopefully help others going through the same thing).

At this time I was advised by my dentist that lots of people get their silver fillings removed and replaced with white ones. I did research into it and could see why. I decided to do this. Didn’t regret it one bit and felt like yes - I’ll never get a silver filling again now (it was just standard to get them as children in the U.K).

I had a filling less than 2 years ago that my dentist said had failed and I needed to have replaced (it was actually with a temporary dentist due to covid issues everywhere).

Yesterday whilst in the middle of the filling, my dentist said to me “I don’t think this is going to work with a white filling due to the difficulty / shape of the tooth.” He was having real trouble clamping it and being able to get the rubber dam over (it’s a top right molar - the one just in front of my wisdom tooth).

He then said “Are you happy for me to use a silver filling instead?”

No, I’m not actually. I trust my dentist practice and I don’t like going against their expertise, but this was the same dentist practice who advised I get them all removed and not to have silver fillings in my mouth anymore.

And whilst lying back and being numbed up etc, I just panicked and immediately said no I don’t want to have silver fillings in my mouth.

Did I do the right thing? Is there a point with a tooth that a white filling simply won’t work and it HAS to be a silver one?

Please tell me there’s other alternatives as I really really don’t want to have a silver filling in my mouth. I need to know for future fillings that I am able to say no to that if asked, and that there should always be an alternative to a silver filling?

Thank you so much for any response you can give to this.

Jo x

 

[Gordon]

There's always an alternative, but like everything else there are pros and cons. If it's too big a hole for a direct composite then the options are (off the top of my head and without examining you):
1) Gold inlay
2) Composite inlay
3) Porcelain inlay
4) Crown

All of which have advantages and disadvantages, so your dentist should explain them to you and you can decide from there.

 

[Jojo3399]

There's always an alternative, but like everything else there are pros and cons. If it's too big a hole for a direct composite then the options are (off the top of my head and without examining you):
1) Gold inlay
2) Composite inlay
3) Porcelain inlay
4) Crown

All of which have advantages and disadvantages, so your dentist should explain them to you and you can decide from there.

Thank you so much for your reply. I’m going to look into these different options and find out more.

Jo