Anyone get rid of all your mercury fillings?

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAE Same here. In fact, most of my old amalgam fillings are about 45-47 years old now, and they keep hanging in there (with the exception of one or two that I've had replaced over the years). My dentist keeps looking at them every year at exam time, and his advice is to leave them alone if they look okay and are not causing any problems. Works for me

I'm in a similar spot, with my previous dentist being a "not broke, don't fix it" guy. But there have been a few failures that ended up with crowns, and I have some teeth that probably have significant cracks. The severity of the cracks apparently can't be determined without looking under the filling. But if there is a risk of a big failure, it would take a crown, not just a composite filling, to protect the natural tooth from failing.

[ABQ2015]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclover I'm just now having mine replaced. They developed small cracks and as someone mentioned I didn't want problems later on with stuff getting underneath the filling

I got mine replaced for the same reason. All my fillings were about 45 years old. My dentist recommended it but since I also had an appointment with a periodontist about the same time, I asked him for a "second opinion" and he agreed with my dentist. And I wanted to get it taken care of while I was working and had the money and a Flexible Savings Account.

[HadEnuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I'm in a similar spot, with my previous dentist being a "not broke, don't fix it" guy. But there have been a few failures that ended up with crowns, and I have some teeth that probably have significant cracks. The severity of the cracks apparently can't be determined without looking under the filling. But if there is a risk of a big failure, it would take a crown, not just a composite filling, to protect the natural tooth from failing.

Exactly! If the amalgam filling is too big, that means that the remaining tooth that supports it may be weak, and unable to withstand the forces applied to it. The tooth will develop cracks over time, or may just fracture cleanly away.

If the tooth is too weak to be adequately restored with an amalgam, it needs a crown, or some sort of restoration that wraps around the walls of the tooth, like a helmet, to protect it from fracturing.

Replacing that amalgam with a composite and saying it's stronger is sketchy at best.