Gold fillings

BlondeHeadOn

marybishop wrote: »

This is what I don't understand - gold with white porcelain? The dentist today showed me the three types - it was either silver OR gold OR white. Definitely no combinations and I dread to think what the cost would be if there were! :eek:

Er.... there is that, I had this done years ago and believe me it was definitely not cheap! Sorry, forgot about the MSE bit for a moment - I was earning a lot at the time and didn't even think about the cost. I don't think I could afford this again now even at 15-year-old prices!!



But my main point was that the gold crown worked a treat and has needed no attention at all since.

maypole

Mine wasn't actually a crown, more of a filling but there was very little tooth to fill, so all you can see in the back bottom tooth is gold. I have had no trouble with it.

Toothsmith

marybishop wrote: »

Toothsmith - can I ask a question about crowns? Have just come back from the dentist, didn't see my usual one as was fitted in as an emergency. I have a molar that was root treated last Easter but since then has not settled and I've been back and forth to have the filling filed down a bit here and a bit there as it has never felt comfortable. Then on Friday the filling cracked!! I was devastated. My usual dentist said that if it continued to be a problem the only course of action was extraction as he was concerned about crowning it as it seems to be a dodgy tooth (my word 'dodgy', I'm sure he put it better than that!). But the dentist I saw today said now the filling's cracked and as it's more filling than tooth it should be crowned. I'm just in a real quandary and it doesn't help that the tooth next to it has a jumpy nerve so I'm sure at some point that one's going to have to be root treated as well as refilling it hasn't done the trick.

She did explain that even with a crown the tooth may still not settle and may have to ultimately be removed. The problem is the thought of spending £200 on a crown (and that's a silver one, I'd prefer a white one but that's about £350) and then it not being a success I know I'll be devastated. But the thought of having a large gap which will show is equally devastating!

Can I just have your opinion on this catch 22 situation as it's driving me mad as to what to do?

The pros and cons of this really depend upon what the person who can actually see the tooth, and any associated x-rays thinks is viable.

I think you have to ask the dentist to give you the options as he sees them.

Some teeth can be saved, some are better off in the bin. Ask him how long he thinks you will have the tooth, and also, whether he's prepared to give any guarentees with it.

Toothsmith

marybishop wrote: »

This is what I don't understand - gold with white porcelain? The dentist today showed me the three types - it was either silver OR gold OR white. Definitely no combinations and I dread to think what the cost would be if there were! :eek:

There really are many different types, but to go through every single one would probably take the whole afternoon, so dentists tend to just pick their favourites!

The 'silver' one is a non-precious alloy that really is a relic of the last days of any pretence at a decent NHS dental service. It was when the NHS no longer was prepared to pay for precious metal crowns on back teeth (in 1998) that I decided to go private.

In the world of vetinary dentistry, non-precious crowns are not considered suitable in any circumstance. The NHS however thought they were fine for humans. But they are not alone. Soviet Russia was also quite fond of them.

They are cheap though.

Gold is a brilliant metal for use in the mouth. it can be highly accurate, is probably the least toxic of all dental materials, needs very little tooth removed in order to make it, and can last for (nearly) ever if done well. Some people don't like the look of gold teeth though.

Bonded porcelain crowns have a layer of gold (White gold usually, although yellow gold bonded crowns are availabe, just a bit dearer) with a layer of porcelain built up on top of it. These lok much more like real teeth, but can be a bit 'flat' in colour, as there isn't much thickness of porcelain to buid any depth into. Fine for back teeth though. Disadvantage of these crowns is that a fair bit of tooth needs to be removed in order to make room for the gold and the porcelain. Some studies have shown up to 20% of these crowns cause the tooth to die within 5 years.

These are all crowns for back teeth - although the bonded ones are often used on front teeth as well - more so on the NHS than in private practice.

Also available for back teeth are the ceramic systems such as Cerec, Lava, and Procera. These are very strong crowns with no metal in them. Consequently they look a lot more 'tooth like'. They are also a lot more expensive!

Lava is also excellent for bridges, and for front teeth.

When it comes to front teeth, there are also several dentine-bonded systems available. These look briliant, but aren't really strong enough for use at the back of the mouth.

Toothsmith

maypole wrote: »

Mine wasn't actually a crown, more of a filling but there was very little tooth to fill, so all you can see in the back bottom tooth is gold. I have had no trouble with it.

Gold is also an excellent material for inlays ('gold filings').

Doing a gold filling takes away less tooth than for a complete crown.

Depends on how the tooth is broken though as to whether it is suitable for an inlay.

marybishop

Toothsmith - thanks for all the fantastic information. So am I right in thinking a gold inlay or crown (if it's an option is going to be more expensive than the horrible silver thing the dentist showed me - probably a stupid question!!).

Really don't know what to do as I'm dreading losing the tooth but can't afford even the silver one!

Toothsmith

I would guess so, but that's a conversation to have with your own dentist.

pinkpong

I had a gold crown ( it covers the whole tooth) fitted 12 years ago, fell out about 3years ago. Was glued back on . I never had any problem with it, but if I could turn the time back I think I would`ve like the white one. They got rid of half of my ( which I though was a good tooth) tooth to put the gold on it. Once you have the gold one fitted you can never have it changed to the white one.
The silver one you are tallking about sounds like what they call "amalgan" if that`s what it is than very good dentist would never use it. It`s been baned from Europe, but I can see the British dentist quite happily using it.
It is supposed to cause problems in your mouth, like headekes etc...

I would love to have my theeth lovely stright and white- Hollywood smile. :j Mydentist queted me £3000 for top and botom. :rotfl: LOL
Mother at home no money , I need to win a lotery!!! Any help with that!

Toothsmith

pinkpong wrote: »

Once you have the gold one fitted you can never have it changed to the white one.

Yes you can. a gold crown can be changed for a white one pretty easily

pinkpong wrote: »

The silver one you are tallking about sounds like what they call "amalgan" if that`s what it is than very good dentist would never use it. It`s been baned from Europe, but I can see the British dentist quite happily using it.
It is supposed to cause problems in your mouth, like headekes etc...

Amalgam is a filling material, not a crown material. It is a very good filling material.

It has not been baned from Europe, or even banned. Some counties with high mercury levels in the environment (Like Japan and one or two european countries) have banned it, but more to do with the problems of disposing of waste amalgam rather than any health effects from the stuff in place.

It does have a fair few health scares around it, but none of them bear up to scientific scruitiny.

There are some dentists who jump on the bandwagon and proclaim themselves 'Mercury free' and even one or two who dress up like spacemen when the remove people's amalgam fillings. There is an awful lot more money in this theatre than there is in just telling people that their fillings are fine and that a single can of tuna will probably expose them to more mercury than their fillings ever will.

In the last couple of years though, some of these fine actors have been started to be dealt with by their countries regulatory bodies, and some have even been struck off for making false and exaggerated claims about the risks of amalgam.

Personally, I try to use it as little as possible, but that's only because there are better materials available nowadays - particularly if it is the first filling that is put on the tooth. I am still happy to use amalgam whenever I consider it necessary.

pinkpong

So you are a dentist?. I have an amalgan filling right next to the gold crown and if any dentist sees it they go Ohh no, I don`t like it. They would want that amalgan out and replaced with a white filling. I don`t think it`s worth the pain, mind you the gold crown is changing the colour is slightly lighter on top(wander how much gold there actualy is in it). Could it be because it`s next to that amalgan?

All the above posted- was told by my old dentist, perhaps that`s why I left him. Luckily my teeth is very good nick, apart from the gaps that have never been sorted & too much coffe have stained them.