In july, i had an old, upper-molar filling repaired...some decay was around it, so the dentist cleaned it up and put in "new" silver...next to the "old" amalgam. It never really felt right... i guess it was "okay"..(it really felt scratchy...sharp edges..etc)..anyway, one day last week, while flossing, the entire filling came out!!! (I wasn't even biting anything)..the entire piece the dentist put in in July! (it looked like a very small silver plug!)

so yesterday, i go back to the dentist, have my teeth x-rayed...and he says everything looks great..the tooth is healthy..no decay, so he sticks "silver" back up into the hole that he originally fixed in JUly and says "that should last a good long time now"...i go home..the anesthetic wears off, and my tooth feels awful...I can't eat anything (very sensitive)...and the new silver feels "rough" around all the tooth edges...IF i try to chew anything, my tooth feels like it can't take the pressure....it feels as if the silver is "wedged" too tightly in the tooth...does that make sense?

so i told my husband last night: Something is wrong with this tooth..I know it.

tonight...while preparing for bed, I "gently" brush and floss my teeth...AND THE ENTIRE FILLING COMES OUT AGAIN.

NOW, i'm really aggravated. I DO NOT HAVE TIME/money for this.

Do you think i need to find a new dentist? (we've gone to this man for about 10 years but we've never had him do much work..most of the time, we have no cavities....and he sent my husband to someone else for a root canal...)

tomorrow is friday..his office is closed...the two other local dentists are closed..so now i have to go around for 4 days with a huge hole in my molar...can't eat...

OK something doesnt sound right. I worked for a dentist for 16 years. My first question which my seem a little weird is; is he putting a silver band around the tooth before he fills it? If he is then there would be a small metal appliance that comes out of your mouth until he places the filling and then that is taken off once the silver sets. Its called a matrix band?? Sound familiar?

If you are feeling rough edges he is either packing the amalgam( silver) in and not using it; or he is not taking the time to make sure he is trimming off excess silver and fine tuning it. KWIM. I have a couple huge silver fillings and the are very smooth and has no catches when flossing.

Obviously he says the tooth is fine and no more decay. Has he done other work that seems to be ok? If not, find someone else. He should not be charging you to redo work. Maybe the filling is too large and really needs a crown??? If you can send your head to me I would be able to tell..........................LOL. Get it filled ASAP; if it falls out again Id find someone else. Silver fillings are as basic as it gets. Its like a nurse not being able to take someones BP KWIM?

The sensitivity may also be from when the dentist is finishing the tooth... you are supposed to bite down to help put an impression into the filling (they usually put a piece of plastic or something in your mouth for you to bite onto). If you don't bite down like you normally do when eating then the filling isn't molded to your teeth properly....so it is very sensitive when you try to eat. DH had this when he had a filling put in a year or so ago...he went back to the dentist and they filed it down a little and he was fine after that.


I'm not a dentist....just have had a TON of dental fillings done in my lifetime. The fillings should not be sharp or rough....it should be smooth or otherwise it would cut your tongue/cheek up while eating.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like a very good dentist....I would look for a new one. But that's just me....I don't care for dental work as it is, so I can be very picky about a dentist.

jmo.
Beth

This post was edited on Nov 06, 2009 10:29 AM

agreeing with Starbuck on this. And I have had a ton of dental work done myself. I have never had a dentist just place a filling back in the hole. I would be renumbed, the tooth area would still be cleaned out, a band put around the tooth, and the filling placed, then they make you bite down. After all of that, they floss the tooth back and forth to make sure you can floss, and that filling is smoothed out.

You should not go around with an open hole in the tooth. If nothing else, get some of that Dentax stuff(temp filling) to put in there, and do not eat at all on the side(not that you can anyways).

Does he have an emergency service? And no way should he charge you for another visit.

It sounds like you might need a crown on that tooth.

Maybe you can get a referral to another dentist in the meantime?

thanks ladies.

yes, he did use the "matrix" metal band thing. but he kept having me bite down...not on a tape or paper..just bite down and say 'High or low?"...which i thought was odd becuase i've had other dentists use tape to mark the tooth...and I could barely tell what was high or low...the whole right side of my face was NUMB.

is it possible to put "too much" amalgam in a filling...cause that's what it felt like both times he filled it...like my tooth was 'stuffed" with silver and was going to crack if i bet into anything...

so now i have a HUGE hole in this tooth...being very careful with eating...and can't get into a dentist until monday..and what next? a crown? I just feel like i'm losing faith here...why is the ENTIRE CHUNK of silver falling out each time..i'ts not in pieces..it's the entire piece....??

well the tooth probably needs a crown. ASk him if he can put a pin in the tooth to hold the filling in there. If it comes out again; Id see about finding someone else.

Susan, I had a very similar experience. Starbuck's advice is great. Usually, those molars with lots of "filling" material wind up needing a crown. You basically have a hollowed out molar that can totally shatter quite easily. Mine eventually did shatter....the filling came out and parts of the tooth crumbled off also. End result? A root canal and crown! BTW, I would have lost faith in your dentist already! Enjoy your full liquids till Monday!

haha..thanks ladies! :) I'm living off of Wendy's Frosties...and that sort of thing.

I asked him about a crown the other day..I'm ok with it..cost and all..we have decent insurance and i'm not phobic about the dentist. but he said "oh no..we can put in a filling and it will hold for a few years"...well, i feel like my tooth is ready to shatter right now.

there is a very reputable dentist down the road..he doesn't re-open until monday either...my husband says to just go back to our regular guy, but i'm fearful he's going to do a shoddy job and then what??????? sigh.

editing to add that we live in a small community and i see these people all the time!

This post was edited on Nov 06, 2009 01:43 PM