6 ms·

Its complicated. Technically speaking, if there's any decay in your teeth, that's a cavity. The deeper it is, the faster it'll get worse. When you want to get

Its complicated. Technically speaking, if there's any decay in your teeth, that's a cavity. The deeper it is, the faster it'll get worse. When you want to get that filling though, is a judgement call that a lot of dentists make for you sadly. Is it best to go ahead and get those fillings now? Probably, as far as your dental health is concerned. Can it be delayed though and done later? Almost certainly. Just a bigger filling later. Or maybe a crown if it gets too far gone. Also, how fast your decay progresses depends on a variety of factors. For some people, it won't be long before those questionable cavities become serious problems. For others, it can be many years if they decay much further at all even. I think it's largely genetic, but also depends on oral care, diet habits, etc. So, no, I don't think most dentists are just seeing dollar signs and putting fillings onto teeth without cavities. Its not outright fraud or malpractice. But some dentists are sympathetic to your financial situation while others think dental health should be a priority above everything, no matter the cost. So it's a mix I think, between dentists' values/philosophies about dental care, and the lack of science about how fast tooth decay can vary from person to person (and an inability to measure that).

malfist 4y ago
It's not that cut and dry. Just because you have a small carie doesn't mean it's only going to get worse. That's the reason for fluoride in our water, in our toothpaste and in the wax the dentists applies at the end of your cleaning (that for some reason, insurance never wants to pay for). Fluoride treatments and good dental hygiene can reverse carries. Carries should only be treated if they're large, or if they're still growing after discovery and alerting the patient.
- FollowingTheDao 4y ago
  And did you know dental plaque and tartar are actually protecting your teeth? And just because vanity we want to get it removed? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17016887/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17016887/
  - andreareina 4y ago
    In vitro study shows that plaque protects against externally-applied acid. Ok. Now what about the acid produced by the bacteria hiding behind the plaque?
    - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
      Just because dental caries show up with plaque and tartar in no way means that plaque and tartar are causing the caries. These are the mechanism our body uses to protect our teeth from unbalanced oral bacteria. Just like the microbiome of the gut, we have one in our mouth. Removing plaque and tartar does not stop caries. Caries are initiated by direct demineralization of the enamel of teeth due to lactic acid and other organic acids which accumulate in dental plaque. What is tartar? Heavy staining and calculus deposits exhibited on the lingual surface of the mandibular anterior teeth, along the gumline Tartar is a form of hardened dental plaque. It is caused by precipitation of minerals from saliva and gingival crevicular fluid in plaque on the teeth. This process of precipitation kills the bacterial cells within dental plaque.
  - resoluteteeth 4y ago
    Just because having plaque on your teeth will block acids doesn't mean it's actually a good idea not to clean your teeth. I guess if you could show a study showing that leaving plaque/tartar on teeth leads to better health outcomes I might be interested.
    - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
      If you leave the plaque and tartar on the teeth without fixing the fundamental problem (immune health) then there of course will not be better health outcomes. Caries are a sign of an immune disorder or imbalance. As long as dentists only scrape peoples teeth and do not integrate their health into their practice you will keep having plaques and tartar to be remove as your body fight this battle. https://www.lupus.org/news/people-with-lupus-exhibit-increased-need-for-dental-management https://www.lupus.org/news/people-with-lupus-exhibit-increas...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
smileysteve 4y ago
> Is it best to go ahead and get those fillings now? Probably, as far as your dental health is concerned. Modern science says no, you should apply topical fluoride for most early cavities; and if the teeth use a modern pronamel (cough stuck behind USDA approval) should be able to recover quickly.
- exo-pla-net 4y ago
  Could you add more regarding pronamel, so I can begin my negotiations with The Algorithm?
  - Varriount 4y ago
    I think the poster might be referring to "Sensodyne Repair & Protect with NovaMin"
  - selcuka 4y ago
    Previous mention: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644350
argonaut 4y ago
> Is it best to go ahead and get those fillings now? Probably, as far as your dental health is concerned. This is mostly untrue. Fillings don't last forever, so prematurely filling cavities "starts the clock" on the longevity of the filling. When the dentist is replacing a broken filling, the dentist has to remove more of the tooth. Eventually you will need a root canal and/or crown. So for maximizing your health, the dentist still has to make a judgment call on how early or late to fill. I say mostly because mercury amalgam fillings do seem like they can last effectively forever (20+ years), but they have fallen out of favor.

malfist 4y ago

It's not that cut and dry. Just because you have a small carie doesn't mean it's only going to get worse. That's the reason for fluoride in our water, in our toothpaste and in the wax the dentists applies at the end of your cleaning (that for some reason, insurance never wants to pay for). Fluoride treatments and good dental hygiene can reverse carries. Carries should only be treated if they're large, or if they're still growing after discovery and alerting the patient.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago
And did you know dental plaque and tartar are actually protecting your teeth? And just because vanity we want to get it removed? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17016887/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17016887/
- andreareina 4y ago
  In vitro study shows that plaque protects against externally-applied acid. Ok. Now what about the acid produced by the bacteria hiding behind the plaque?
  - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
    Just because dental caries show up with plaque and tartar in no way means that plaque and tartar are causing the caries. These are the mechanism our body uses to protect our teeth from unbalanced oral bacteria. Just like the microbiome of the gut, we have one in our mouth. Removing plaque and tartar does not stop caries. Caries are initiated by direct demineralization of the enamel of teeth due to lactic acid and other organic acids which accumulate in dental plaque. What is tartar? Heavy staining and calculus deposits exhibited on the lingual surface of the mandibular anterior teeth, along the gumline Tartar is a form of hardened dental plaque. It is caused by precipitation of minerals from saliva and gingival crevicular fluid in plaque on the teeth. This process of precipitation kills the bacterial cells within dental plaque.
- resoluteteeth 4y ago
  Just because having plaque on your teeth will block acids doesn't mean it's actually a good idea not to clean your teeth. I guess if you could show a study showing that leaving plaque/tartar on teeth leads to better health outcomes I might be interested.
  - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
    If you leave the plaque and tartar on the teeth without fixing the fundamental problem (immune health) then there of course will not be better health outcomes. Caries are a sign of an immune disorder or imbalance. As long as dentists only scrape peoples teeth and do not integrate their health into their practice you will keep having plaques and tartar to be remove as your body fight this battle. https://www.lupus.org/news/people-with-lupus-exhibit-increased-need-for-dental-management https://www.lupus.org/news/people-with-lupus-exhibit-increas...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

smileysteve 4y ago

> Is it best to go ahead and get those fillings now? Probably, as far as your dental health is concerned. Modern science says no, you should apply topical fluoride for most early cavities; and if the teeth use a modern pronamel (cough stuck behind USDA approval) should be able to recover quickly.

exo-pla-net 4y ago
Could you add more regarding pronamel, so I can begin my negotiations with The Algorithm?
- Varriount 4y ago
  I think the poster might be referring to "Sensodyne Repair & Protect with NovaMin"
- selcuka 4y ago
  Previous mention: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644350

argonaut 4y ago

> Is it best to go ahead and get those fillings now? Probably, as far as your dental health is concerned. This is mostly untrue. Fillings don't last forever, so prematurely filling cavities "starts the clock" on the longevity of the filling. When the dentist is replacing a broken filling, the dentist has to remove more of the tooth. Eventually you will need a root canal and/or crown. So for maximizing your health, the dentist still has to make a judgment call on how early or late to fill. I say mostly because mercury amalgam fillings do seem like they can last effectively forever (20+ years), but they have fallen out of favor.