Dental experts...

[Amy loves Bud]

Help me sort this out...

 

I have some silver fillings in my mouth. Eight, to be exact, all over 30 years old. It has been about two years since I've been to the dentist, and I went today for a check-up. This is a new dentist to me and to the area.

 

She says that four of the 8 teeth have decay around the filling, so the fillings need to be replaced. The evidence of the decay is not x-ray, but a dark gray discoloration on the surface of the tooth next to the filling. She says that this eventually happens to almost all silver fillings, but only four of mine are affected, the other four are fine.

 

Is this the natural history of a silver filling? And is the dark gray discoloration evidence of this, or should there be x-ray evidence? If this is true, I'm happy to have the work done (well, happy is a stretch...), but this is an area where I feel very vulnerable.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Lolly]

I am just a regular dental phobic kinda being. I have 4 silver fillings that have been with me for quite a long time now. Not a single one of them has any need of being replaced. Dh has a few too. None of his have needed replacing. None of my siblings has needed to have any replaced. I think I would get a second opinion just to be sure.

[TrixieB]

Not a dental expert here, but this is a red flag to me:

 

This is a new dentist to me and to the area.

 

Also the fact that she says half of your fillings need to be replaced... around here fillings go for $200+ apiece. I would get a second opinion.

 

Or maybe someone on these boards who is a dentist could confirm what she told you about the discoloration indicating decay.

[Rose in BC]

My niece is visiting right now and she works as a dental assistant. She says x-rays may or may not show this decay and that the advice you were given is probably credible. (In short, silver fillings expand and contract at a much greater rate than enamel, therefore, over thirty years leakage can happen, causing decay.)

[elbac]

I'm going to lean towards your dentist being correct. The silver colored fillings were never intended to have that long of "life expectancy." I don't remember the actual time period, but I believe I heard 12-15 years at some point? Mine are all between the 20 to almost 30 year range, and I'm having some replaced soon. I've been amazed they've lasted as long as they have. Honestly one of them I put off, and probably shouldn't have. What can I say, sometimes I'm stubborn. lol

 

By all means though, if something doesn't feel right to you, get a second opinion.

[Chris in VA]

(not an expert, just a grown up who didn't brush well as a child..sigh)

 

My dentist told me that silver fillings do indeed expand and contract more--they are held in by the edges of the tooth. Composite fillings (the nifty white ones) actually bond to the tooth. Ds18 just needed several very large fillings--I opted for composite, even tho our Neolithic dental insurance company doesn't cover them. That way, when he's an old f@rt like me, he won't need them replaced or crowns put on.

 

So, yes, I'd get a second opinion--you could even call another dentist and ask; as a courtesy they will probably answer you (but hypothetically, not based on your case). But I'm inclined to believe your new dentist.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I've had to have a couple of my old fillings replaced because they leaked. There was indeed decay under the filling. They were replaced with composite. Intestingly, one of those composite fillings had to be replaced again because it became loose. My current dentist said that the composite fillings aren't as durable as the silver ones. He does composite if you request it, and want to pay more for it, but he prefers the silver.