I recently moved to a new town and the dentist I am now seeing recommended that I have my silver fillings removed and replaced. The estimate he gave me for the procedure was nearly $4000. Is this really necessary? Why did my old dentist never say anything about it? — Tina
Tina,
Is your dentist recommending this so that they can be replaced with new white fillings? Sometimes these fillings can start to leak or deteriorate with age or they can crack. Any of these issues would be cause to remove and replace them because bacteria can seep into the tooth and lead to tooth decay. But unless there is something wrong with your existing amalgam fillings, they should not need to be replaced.
Before consenting to anything, ask his reasoning for wanting to remove the fillings. If something is wrong, go ahead and replace them. If not, you should just leave them alone. Today, there are many patients who make a personal decision to have all their old silver amalgam fillings taken out and replaced with white fillings that don’t contain mercury. Don’t let this dentist talk you into that if that’s something you do not want to do.
This blog post is brought to you by Des Moines cosmetic dentist, Dr. Phelan Thomas. For more information on the services he provides, please visit his Des Moines cosmetic dentist website.