Would you do tooth filling if you cant see it with naked eye?

[NiceCold]

would you do a tooth filling if you cant see the cavity with naked eyes? im kindda skeptical.

 

[tcG]

It's possible to have a cavity that you can't see with the naked eye. Sometimes the surface even remineralizes such that the top looks fine but there is a cavity underneath.

I would get a second opinion or at least ask to see the cavity on x-ray (though if it's small it may not show up) if you think your dentist is full of it.

Also, I wouldn't recommend getting a composite or amalgam filling, even though that's standard practice. Read the wiki on "dental restorative materials". As long as it's for a tooth that you can't see, a cast gold restoration is the best, for longevity, wear, biocompatability, et. al. It costs more but it's essentially permanent and will save you from having to get re-drilled and eventually root canaled in the future. Composite fillings are shit, especially on back teeth. They last for an average of ~7 years (recurrent decay is the most common cause of failure) and leech endocrine disrupting chemicals. Eventually, you'll have to get it redone, which can only be done so many times since more tooth has to be drilled each time. After about the second time there is no more tooth surface to drill away and you have to get a root canal and a crown, which means you have a dead tooth in your mouth. Get gold, do it right, do it once.

 

[NiceCold]

sounds complicated and dont feel like getting the filling now after hearing it can break.

the gold you were saying, will the color of the filling be gold? or it will have a color like the tooth outside of the gold?


forgot to add that my tooth does not hurt nor does it have visibleness of the cavity.

 

[tcG]

*sigh*

I feel irresponsible now to be changing your decision like this. If you have a cavity and don't get a filling, it will only get worse. If you leave it long enough the inevitable result will be a totally decayed tooth. It's certainly better to get a composite filling than NOTHING. And it doesn't "break", usually. The plastic shrinks, creating small gaps around the margins, which causes bacteria to leak in and cause recurrent decay. Then you have to get it drilled and filled again.

If it's just a small/medium-sized cavity, you probably wouldn't be having pain.

Gold filling is gold color. It's much more expensive (probably around $1000) and you have to really search around for a GOOD dentist that will do it and will do it right. To me, the effort is unquestionably worth it since it makes the difference between having to have a root canaled tooth in your mouth 20 years down the road (which is a shit thing to have), and having just one filling once. Perhaps it's not worth the effort for you, I don't know.

Do you not trust your dentist? How did they diagnose the cavity? You realize that a cavity usually doesn't look like a huge black spot, right? Sometimes it's just a little brown speck.

This is what I would do: Go to another dentist/look at the x-rays.

 

[tcG]

Gold fillings have excellent durability, wear well, and do not cause excessive wear to the opposing teeth...

Fillings have a finite lifespan: an average of 12.8 years for amalgam and 7.8 years for composite resins.[2] One advantage of gold restorations is longevity, because gold can outlast other materials by three to five times longer. When describing other materials, dentists talk in terms of years of service, whereas with cast gold, dentists speak of decades of service. To achieve the greatest longevity, gold dental work must be done with sufficient skill and precision, so discerning patients should seek gold dentists with quality training, experience and expertise.

Gold restorations, if done properly, could last the lifetime of a patient. As life expectancies increase, thoughtful dental material choices become even more important to reduce the number of times that fillings and other restorations must be replaced. Repeated repairs to teeth can lead to pulpal inflammation and necrosis, root canal therapy and the eventual necessity for crowns in lieu of fillings. Restoring a tooth only once, with highly durable, non-toxic, biocompatible materials like gold, can be very appealing to discerning patients, and be less costly and painful in the long run.

Yeah

 

[tcG]

List of dentists that do gold dentistry:

http://www.arvtsc.org/index.php?id=19&country=223&club=%

 

[NiceCold]

oh i see. i was expect the gold one will have outside coloring of a color that sync with our teeth. doesnt look good with part of our teeth having a gold color on it. on the other hand regular one is not durable than the gold one....

i dont want neither.... just want to make sure if i dont chose neither.... will it be ok.

having anything implant on our teeth is hard to take care of.

i read somewhere that a very early stage of cavity is not necessary to have it filled, in fact it will make it worse in some case. early stage of cavity is reversable by eating healthy food and brush daily and it will cover back with our natural mineral in our mouth by itself. do you aprove of this rumor?

and dont worry about making me changing my mind. its good to hear infos and experience.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I really hope one day we can just regrow new teeth, or at least enamel. Wasnt there something promising a few years back, someone was working on a substance that was closer to tooth enamel?

 

[tcG]

You need to find out whether you have a cavity or not. Review thread for suggestions on how to do this.

 

[colonelciller]

last time I checked you can't see a bacterium with the naked eye either... he'll enjoy entering that crack/hole in your enamel and munching on the goodies inside your tooth... growing and multiplying and slowing eating down to the root... whereafter his descendants will spread and you'll be in for a root canal.

cavities used to kill people, and probably still do in some parts of the world
a tiny crack can lead to bacterial infiltration and a cavity.

seal it up... or revive this thread in a year or so and let us know about the procedure you get after the problem is magnified to where you can "see" it

listen to your dentist, if you think he's unsavory find a new one and listen to him/her

 

[Zeze]

I thought it was common knowledge that once cavity is set, nothing in the world will reverse it. And it WILL continue to rot and spread.

You HAVE to get a filling, wtf.