To want a white filling for my 8 year old

[innogen75]

Just walked out of the dentist after refusing to put a silver filling in of my 8 year old permanent teeth. It would be pretty visible as it's on the bottom front right hand side.

I feel awful that she needs a filling and her teeth aren't great to start off with but I have certainly tried my best with her dental health over the years. The dentist would barely take no for an answer. He said there were no health issues to be concerned about and that because of her age it just needed to be filled quickly and for that reason he refused to try a composite one.

The thing is he doesn't know if there is a cavity there at all to speak of. He said he wouldn't know until he cleaned it out properly. He was very vague about the x rays and it just left me confused.

I am concerned about health issues regarding silver fillings as we have a lot of autoimmune disorders in my family. I simply don't want to run the risk. Also there is the cosmetic aspect to consider.He said he would refer her to the dental hospital but that they would only do silver too. I'm happy to pay but he insisted it wasn't a cost issue.

He wanted me to get a silver one and then replace it when she was a teenager but to my mind that suggest the cavity is suitable for a white one and it's that he doesn't want the hassle of a white one on a child. Any ideas or suggestions?

Wild = Willdoit

White fillings are not always successful, they can cause severe pain in the tooth as they settle in.
Everyone who is commenting saying their child has had a white filling, you are lucky it didn't go wrong.
I've just had to have a white filling removed due to pain in the tooth that kept me awake for 3 days and I'd never have one again. Certainly wouldn't subject a child to that.

I think there is a lot of confusion on this thread regarding GIC restorations and composite. They are both white in colour but are very different materials.

armani I tried to explain that a few days ago...

Huge differences between the two (I remember as a student being confused as to which one to use) but not the same. Not even close.

I know mrs M. We are fighting a losing battle when an actual dentist tells someone they have calculus on their teeth due to genetics

Facepalm

I spend my Sundays showing people things on my ipad to demonstrate how it's not genetics but sugar. This is fortunately, salaried but we are well below our UDA targets.

Ashamed that it happens tbh!!

My dentist gave my 8 year old ds a White filling. Didnt charge for it either.

QED

My three year old (please, no judging - he has my shit teeth and a daddy who gave him fucking biscuits on the way into nursery whilst I was on maternity and not present in the car) had a filling a few months back on a back tooth. Not visible.

My dentist put a white one in. I would never have a silver filling put in my children's teeth.

I'm slowly getting my silver ones replaced now. Costing a bloody fortune, but my teeth look much better.

MrsM, NoArmani, please explain!

(Is calculus what we laypeople call scale, and has to be scraped off with a little metal hook or an ultrasonic widget? I thought it was maths.)

Lol, yes, calculus = tartar or scale it's just what we call it.

Doh! I accidentally deleted half my post!

Please explain why what my dentist said is wrong.

As students we are all trained to consider function first followed by comfort with cosmetics last. There is absolutely no point in having a beautiful set of teeth that cause constant pain and fall to pieces when you use them. This comment is not meant to provoke, but to explain why sometimes your dentist doesn't seem to appreciate your main concern.
If I consider a white filling is inappropriate then I will explain why but will still refuse to do it however much the patient is prepared to pay me. I also do a large number of NHS white fillings in molar teeth with large cavities because they are often more successful than metal filling. Again I always explain why we are using the white filling.

For example white fillings are not very good in hyperplastic teeth. The enamel is abnormal and the resin bonds used to stick white fillings to enamel and dentine don't work very well. They are designed for normal tooth tissue.

I am sure the other dentists would agree that we all have a nemesis patient who has pressured us into placing a white filling inappropriately and we would love to turn back the clock and refuse to do the treatment.

Calculus is basically plaque that has gone hard. In an ideal world everybody would brush and floss perfectly and no one would have plaque on their teeth long enough for it to harden.