How many fillings do you have and how old are you?

[MummyCool19]

My parents never took me to the dentist 😩 I started going at 18. I’m now 28 and I have a feeling I’m going to need a lot of fillings. Iv had one so far but I’m absolutely terrified of the dentist! I desperately need braces too!

How many do you have?

1. I'm 57.

Why do you think you'll need lots of fillings? Haven't you been cleaning your teeth?

If you live in an area with fluoride in the water it's unlikely you'll need fillings.

4, and I am 44.

30 and until I had my now 3 year old I had only a few fillings. Now I've had her I've had three extractions and god knows how many fillings. But it runs in my family once my Nan has kids she lost all of hers in her 30s and my mum lost all of hers in her 40s. So not good news for me

I'm not sure how much it's to do with fluoride - more diet, dental health and luck. I'm 43 and have loads of fillings, most from my teenage years when I binge ate a lot of sweets. I have always brushed my teeth and been to dentist regularly but I often have random problems eg dead root, vertical fracture, and have had two extractions. It's my fault for my poor diet but I think genes play a part too from what I see with friends.

I had none up until I was 26, between then and now I've had 6! No idea why, my oral hygiene hasn't changed, if anything it's improved as I now floss daily. And I stopped smoking at 26 too which is really strange!

I'm 33 now

64 - all of my molars had fillings as a kid, pre flouride toothpaste and at a time when the automatic response to a bit of soft tooth was to drill a deep enough hole to anchor a filling.

My kids 40 and 41 have one or two each - all done as adults.

I haven't needed any treatment for the last 20 years other than a scale and polish

My brother, sister and I ate the same food growing up, went to the dentist every 6 months, brushed our teeth twice a day. They had no fillings until late 20s.
I have fillings in every back tooth, two crowns (where there was no tooth left to fill) and I also have gum disease. Some people just have crap teeth!

My teeth are terrible but my dentist comments on how clean I keep them. I have bruxism and have been clenching and grinding for over 30 years which has really damaged my teeth. I now wear a gum shield at night but even now I wake up with teeth pain from the clenching. I am really ashamed of my teeth but I really do look after them.

None.
38

2 and I'm 36 I've just been diagnosed with vitamin d deficiency and that can cause problems with the teeth so I'm hoping thats all I need doing.

None
42

None and I'm 42. I have had to have a lot of work done to my teeth though due to overcrowding and alignment problems. I only have 26 adult teeth, none of which were removed due to decay.

5 and missing 1 wisdom tooth. Mid-30s. Enamel's a bit rubbish, apparently.

I had 18 fillings so that's all my molars and most of my premolars. I think I'm out in front for highest number! Hooray I'm 51.

They were all old style black amalgam but they've all been replaced now with white ceramic inlays and one ceramic implant. Cost a fortune but was mostly paid for by my health insurance for which I am eternally grateful.

None. I'm 30.

4 I'm 50+

5 or 6 - I'm a child of the 70s.

1 when I was 15 and then I had a temp one done when I was pregnant with dd, that’s fell out and I don’t have the money to get it done properly. So count 2 for all intents and purposes and I’m 31😊

Unless teeth are hupomineralised, I do agree that it's 95% nurture.

I think people can be lucky and not need many fillings, but generally when someone needs multiple fillings there is a cause. Could be diet, could be oral hygiene, could be both. If someone's diet is really low in sugar they can get away with poor oral hygiene, so seem 'lucky' but theres normally a combination of diet and brushing/flossing which leads to decay and fillings. If someone has excellent oral hygiene, and a diet low in sugar they don't get decay, so there's no reason to worry about needing lots of fillings.

Gum disease is more genetic, I have seen people develop gum disease when their oral hygiene is pretty good and I think can be unlucky, but there is still a strong link.

Well mine clean religiously so what is wrong with our diet?(although it seems fairly normal..we dont do fruit juice/ fizzy drinks sweets just on saturday. Normal meals...) .

I'd genuinely like to know what Im missing as Im obviously worried about the kids. Would the dentist have noticed if there's a problem with the enamel/whatever it is. They have other dental issues so its possible!?

None. Almost 39.

15 out of 29. I have awful teeth. Severely overcrowded, never had proper orthodontic treatment. Fear of the dentist meant less-than regular visits as an adult. It makes me sad

None at 37 but thin tooth enamel runs in the family so that's my issue.

I'm 40.

I have at least one filling in each tooth and multiple in some. Most before age 6 and then 5 more with each pregnancy. I eat well and have always had really good dental hygiene - seriously! They comment on how thoroughly clean and cared for my teeth are at every appointment! I have “soft enamel” apparently.