Root Canalling or Filling?

Dental problems continue to hound you for life, if given a chance to start. And, worse still, your dentists are not to be believed. Now, why do I say this? Well, yesterday, I went with my friend for getting her filling done. She already had a filling in her cavity but she was getting pain so she went for a simple check up. She could not visit the same doctor who did her filling so we went to the one nearest in our vicinity.

When we went for consultation, he was pretty insistent on root canalling which was not required in my friend’s case as the cavity in her teeth had not reached the roots. Yes, you can tell that by looking at the X-ray. And, she was also told so by her previous doctor. Look at the X-ray, you can easily find the demarcation between a cavity and the teeth. I shall ask for X-rays and scan them and put them up so that it would be a visual help. In root canalling, the teeth is killed by pulling all the nerves from the root and desensitizing the teeth which is required only when the cavity reaches the root nerves. You can see that in the X-ray too.

To speak of the doctor, he was young and quite inexperienced as my friend said. He was not at all confident of his work but that at least was well in a sense that she got a very good quality filling done. Now, when she already had a filling, why did she get another filling? Reason is the doctor. When we went for the check up, they said the already existing filling is really good. Only, it has chipped from the top. They said they can fill that up and bring the filling in proper shape again. We thought that they would apply a little bit of filling over the existing filling so we went ahead with the idea. When my friend went on the dentist chair (which you should be really afraid of), there was no looking back. I was, very ruthlessly, thrown out of the room. And, my friend re-emerged from the chair after a full two hours! Any one would say that when does filling take so long. What I come to know then is that her existing filling was removed and a new filling was put in place just to fill the above chipped part!! I was shocked. But, I think whatever happens, happens for the best. Why? Coz the doc was uncertain of his work, he did a very good job of the filling and another reason is that my friend’s earlier filling was silver mixed with mercury which got replaced with a tooth color cement filling.

I am very sure that you are already aware of the toxic effects mercury has on the body. Well, if you do not, let me just say this that mercury is used to melt silver and then, the mixture is poured into the filling. Thus, metal fillings should never be done as mercury is always used to melt the metal and then mixed and poured into your tooth or jaw. That keeps on sipping slowly into your system and badly affects your kidneys, brain, liver and spinal cord. General problems are breathing problems, nausea, memory loss, hallucination, personality disorder and skin allergies among others. And, mind you, there is always a danger of exposure to mercury in the environment itself so it is not only a dental filling which introduces mercury into your body.

Secondly, metal fillings look really bad when you open your mouth for eating or laughing or talking purposes 🙂 A tooth color cement is also used for fillings. I would not say that they do not use chemicals. The procedure goes something like this. A layer or two of chemical is added then dried with a UV light bulb. And, this process is repeated till the whole of your cavity fills up. There are lot of chemicals used in this method but they are less toxic than mercury.

Now that you have heard of toxic effects of mercury, please do not rush to the doctor to get your fillings replaced immediately. See for yourself that have you been really having any problems and allergies after the fillings, get yourself tested for mercury allergies and then approach the doctor. And, people going for fillings, opt for porcelain or other kinds of fillings which do not involve mercury.

So, coming back to the incident of my friend, I would like to say do not believe what your doctor tells you. There is free information available today. Search on the topic, ask your friends and other doctors you know, ask people who have the same problems, these things help a lot in getting a correct diagnosis and proper treatment. Many doctors tend to treat the symptom instead of the cause. So, unless its your family doctor, always be skeptical of what you are being told. There is no harm in taking second opinion for serious things. Always be skeptical of your doctor and do not hesitate to ask a reason. You are not a guinea pig. If they fail to give an answer, run from there never to return and if they give an answer, take time to counter check. There is always some or the other doctor whom your acquainted with or related to. Always take advice from them. They are the ones who can give you the best advices.

After covering this incident and my advices, I would stress that prevention is always better than cure. So, start taking care of your teeth from today. And, stay away from sweets. Trust me they harm you (at least your teeth) real bad. I do have another incident about it which I would save for another post but you have been warned!! Floss regularly. Buy Oral-B toothbrush and floss. It was recommended by the same dentist. Flossing is difficult if you are new at it. Getting at the teeth at the back of the jaw, especially, the upper jaw is really difficult but you need to have patience and slowly you would master it. And, then flossing would take you no more than 5 minutes each time. If you do have cavities and other dental problems, I would recommend flossing after every meal. Otherwise, two times a day is fine. I would also add that if you are flossing for the first time, you would notice the blood on the floss. It is perfectly fine. It just indicates that your gums are not healthy and the situation would improve with every time you floss. Make your children learn this habit early in life to prevent their dental problems. Lastly, eat these foods to keep your teeth healthy and white.