I just started going to a new dentist. I’ve always been really diligent about taking care of my teeth, in part because both of my parents had terrible teeth, with full upper and lower dentures before they turned 60. I don’t want that, so I floss every single day, and I brush at least twice a day, and more often if I’ve had a lot of sugar. I don’t drink pop. My old dentist always used to say what great teeth I have, so imagine my shock when I start with this new dentist and she tells me I have five cavities. Five!
The cavities were all in my back teeth, and the dentist used white fillings to fill them. The problem is that ever since she did that, I have a lot of pain. She tried to adjust my bite, saying it was out of whack, but that didn’t help at all.
I just feel like something is hinky here. I went to my old dentist less than a year ago, and those xrays did not show any cavities. Now with this new one the xrays show five, and that just seems impossible, especially when I take such good care of my teeth. I kind of want to get copies of my old xrays, and copies of the xrays from the new dentist and take them to a different dentist, to see what they think, but I can’t think how to do that without making the new dentist suspicious. Maybe I don’t care if the new dentist is suspicious.
This is really difficult! I never imagined I would have to do something like this.
Anne in Shreveport
Dear Anne,
While being your own advocate is always a good idea in any kind of healthcare, you shouldn’t have to stress over things to this degree. In any case, you don’t seem to have any kind of trust or rapport with this new dentist, so now might be the perfect time to request all your records including xrays so you can switch to a new dentist.
It is possible that the angle of an xray might miss a cavity or two, but five is highly unlikely. The best method for getting an unbiased second opinion is to tell the second opinion dentist that you would simply like an opinion on the dental work that was done. Tell them as little as possible, just let the dental work and the xrays do the talking for you.
The primary concern here is that you are having pain in your teeth. That indicates that the dentist that placed the white fillings may not have used the proper technique and that material has not bonded correctly. A new dentist will work with you to diagnose the exact nature of your pain and work for a solution. A slim possibility is that you have developed a disorder of the temperomandibular joint, and will need to find a dentist experienced with TMJ treatment. The reason this seems unlikely is that your problems coincided with the placement of the white fillings. That would be a pretty strange coincidence.
Seek a second opinion.
Posted courtesy of Grosse Pointe Woods cosmetic dentist Dr. Hadgis.