Root Canals & dams

[carmen66]

Hi

Last week I had the first treatment for a root canal, my dentist didn't offer the use of a dam while he was removing my old filling so I requested one as I didn;t want to swallow chemicals & pieces of my filling he happily obliged.. I'm due to go back next week to have my crown fitted do people generally just have the dam for the removal of the old filling ? should I ask for one to fit the crown?

[Mrsmorton]

It's very difficult to fit a crown under rubber dam! I've never done it tbh.

It should always be used for root canal treatment altho not every dentist does, it's considered best practice.

As for removing old fillings, I suppose it can be used but I wouldn't say routinely, it can be hard to place fillings under rubber dam due to the bits in between the teeth etc.

I would say fitting a crown under dam is highly unusual, about 50% of the appt is usually checking the bite which is impossible with dam on!

[carmen66]

Thankyou for your reply, people tend to be requesting dams to remove old amalgam fillings these days as drilling them out lets off vapours & I really didn't want to swallow bits & chemicals that were used for the root canal..
I was just wondering if a dam is recommended for removing the temporary filling although I appreciate it's not amalgam :)

[Mrsmorton]

I get tested for Mercury levels every quarter. They are below the threshold at which they can be detected, so I would suggest this "vapour" isn't a great reason to justify its use.

No I wouldn't use it to remove a temp filling or crown either.

I have never had a patient request it's use. I wonder where you have read that?

[carmen66]

I take it that your a dentist MrsMorton? I read up about amalgam & mercury.. I felt more at ease having the dam fitted while having a filling removed.. Apparently a lot of dentists use them now & it has put my mind at ease