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These days I just ignore the dentist when they say I need fillings, unless I am experiencing pain. And nearly all the dental pain I have experienced has been p

These days I just ignore the dentist when they say I need fillings, unless I am experiencing pain. And nearly all the dental pain I have experienced has been post-op. I usually start flossing much more diligently a couple of weeks before my dentist visits, so that my teeth have the appearance of being better-maintained. I believe this results in more honesty from the dentist. In other words, my instinct is that they rely on their gut feeling quite a lot for making their "diagnoses." If your teeth look healthy, they are more likely to tell you they are healthy. Don't know WTF they are seeing in those blurry x-rays. The only reason I go to the dentist at all is for general well-being reasons and polishing. When I don't have insurance, I just skip it.

tzs 4y ago
> These days I just ignore the dentist when they say I need fillings, unless I am experiencing pain. Careful. It is possible for a cavity to be completely painless up to the point it is so big that the tooth actually completely collapses, and then you get to enjoy something much more annoying than getting a filling (especially a small one) such as a root canal. If you have small cavities and don't want to get them filled and aren't sure they are the kind that if they grow won't be pain free until it is too late, look into silver diamine fluoride [1]. In the US its official use is to help people with dental hypersensitivity, but it also can stop or greatly slow cavity formation and growth. Dentists in the US can use it off-label for that. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_diammine_fluoride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_diammine_fluoride
sdfhdhjdw3 4y ago
> I usually start flossing much more diligently a couple of weeks before my dentist visits, so that my teeth have the appearance of being better-maintained. I believe this results in more honesty from the dentist. In other words, my instinct is that they rely on their gut feeling quite a lot for making their "diagnoses." If your teeth look healthy, they are more likely to tell you they are healthy. Don't know WTF they are seeing in those blurry x-rays. I don't know. What you just said 100% resonates with me. But I'm not a dentist. I'm (was) a physicist, and I know the absolute garbage HN constantly writes about physics, so this might just be gellmann effect... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnesiaEffect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmn...

tzs 4y ago

> These days I just ignore the dentist when they say I need fillings, unless I am experiencing pain. Careful. It is possible for a cavity to be completely painless up to the point it is so big that the tooth actually completely collapses, and then you get to enjoy something much more annoying than getting a filling (especially a small one) such as a root canal. If you have small cavities and don't want to get them filled and aren't sure they are the kind that if they grow won't be pain free until it is too late, look into silver diamine fluoride [1]. In the US its official use is to help people with dental hypersensitivity, but it also can stop or greatly slow cavity formation and growth. Dentists in the US can use it off-label for that. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_diammine_fluoride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_diammine_fluoride

sdfhdhjdw3 4y ago

> I usually start flossing much more diligently a couple of weeks before my dentist visits, so that my teeth have the appearance of being better-maintained. I believe this results in more honesty from the dentist. In other words, my instinct is that they rely on their gut feeling quite a lot for making their "diagnoses." If your teeth look healthy, they are more likely to tell you they are healthy. Don't know WTF they are seeing in those blurry x-rays. I don't know. What you just said 100% resonates with me. But I'm not a dentist. I'm (was) a physicist, and I know the absolute garbage HN constantly writes about physics, so this might just be gellmann effect... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnesiaEffect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmn...