Q.
In my most recent dentist visit, my dentist had replaced several of my silver amalgam fillings with composite ones (not sure which exact type but it did involve UV light and some sort of bonding agent). One of the teeth was a Molar with pretty big cavity the filling covered most of the top of the tooth/chewing surface). Afterwards, I read online that specifically for Molars and certain cavities (not sure which ones) composite fillings are recommended less than silver (amalgam) ones due to increased problems with leakage, less longetivity (about 5 yrs less than amalgam), and if compromised higher chances of having to do a root canal to fix it. At the same time, I am pretty sure he used the most recent version of composite filling used in US – because he just recently started using it and was REALLY proud of it. So the material was the latest version, not sure about his technique though since its my first experience with this particular filling method. This made me concerned, since the cavity I had was pretty deep and another dentist (couple of years back) warned me that next time I might have to do a root canal because of the depth of the cavity. My question is was my current dentist right in replacing my old amalgam fillings for a big cavity in my molar – the cavity was at the top of the tooth (chewing surface) with composite fillings instead of using silver amalgam again?
In my most recent dentist visit, my dentist had replaced several of my silver amalgam fillings with composite ones (not sure which exact type but it did involve UV light and some sort of bonding agent). One of the teeth was a Molar with pretty big cavity the filling covered most of the top of the tooth/chewing surface). Afterwards, I read online that specifically for Molars and certain cavities (not sure which ones) composite fillings are recommended less than silver (amalgam) ones due to increased problems with leakage, less longetivity (about 5 yrs less than amalgam), and if compromised higher chances of having to do a root canal to fix it. At the same time, I am pretty sure he used the most recent version of composite filling used in US – because he just recently started using it and was REALLY proud of it. So the material was the latest version, not sure about his technique though since its my first experience with this particular filling method. This made me concerned, since the cavity I had was pretty deep and another dentist (couple of years back) warned me that next time I might have to do a root canal because of the depth of the cavity. My question is was my current dentist right in replacing my old amalgam fillings for a big cavity in my molar – the cavity was at the top of the tooth (chewing surface) with composite fillings instead of using silver amalgam again?
