How much tooth is actually needed to do a filling?
Q. My girlfriend just had a filling fall out. Her NHS dentist told her she couldn’t put another filling in as there is not enough tooth to fill. Exactly how much tooth is actually needed to do a filling? I don’t think it’s much as one of my teeth is mostly filling. The dentist said to her she would need a to perform extraction of the tooth and fit a bridge which NHS doesn’t cover so would cost around 800 pounds or an implant which would be 1000. I have also had an implant fitted on the NHS so is the dentist lying? Sorry, I realise that’s actually two questions…
A. Q1 There is no magic formula for the ammont of tooth as the strength and direction of the “bite”, and the quality and configuration of the residual tooth are important.Q2 Sometimes there is confusion between a cast post which fits into a retained tooth root and a dental implant which sits directly into the jawbone. Cast posts are readily available on the NHS but implants are not.Rob
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