Teenage Dental Fillings

[Isabelle3]

How many fillings do your teenage DC have and at what age? We've just discovered DS (14) needs his first 3(!) fillings in lower molars. I'm mortified as since starting regular hygienist visits his teeth have been looking perfect. I've been having a real go at him saying he must be the only 14 year old his dentist sees with that many cavities! I'm worried how he'll react to the drill; the scraper used by the hygienist already turns him pale...

I don’t know how many fillings my DC had as teens, it hardly matters.
They’ve been getting their teeth cleaned by the hygienist and checked by the dentist every 6mos since age 2. They have always been praised on excellent oral hygiene. If the hygiene is good, then decay is down to genetics.

You know your DS has good hygiene so why are you “having a real go” at him to shame him for cavities that are largely out of his control? Especially when he already seems to have some dental anxiety?

You do want him to keep up the hygienist and dentist visits when he is an adult right?

Because making him embarrassed of his teeth and afraid to see the dentist for fear of being that person with the rotten teeth can cause him to avoid going to the dentist as an adult.

Mine are 20, 18 and 16 and they have none.

I had loads at their ages which is why I’m really really keen they avoid having them.

None.

They are very particular about cleaning their teeth, have never missed a dental appointment and used to have braces so they take extra care of their teeth.

I think just because your 14yo need some it’s really important to have them see a hygienist and positive dentist. I always felt horribly judged and I then really avoided the dentist for decades.
3 is fine and doesn’t mean they will need any more.

DS 20 doesn't have any. I had quite a few by that age.

None. I have a filling in nearly every tooth from poor dental care growing up so my dc have gone to the dentist every six months since they got teeth. Also had fissure sealants done by the hygienist which may have helped.

kids 22 and 15 have no fillings. I was amazed the 22yr old only needed a clean the last time he was at dentist as he has a sweet tooth

I’m afraid seeing the hygienist has nothing to do with preventing decay . Hygiene visits are to help people control gum disease and give them advice to help them control their oral health. Genetics also has very little to do with decay apart from some very rare syndromes .

The biggest factor is diet and most particularly the frequency with which sugary/starchy foods and drinks are consumed inbetween meals .

The reason we see so many teenagers start to need fillings is because they have their own money and start to make choices about food and drinks that are consumed outside their parents control.

Grazing on snacks and sipping on drinks is the number one problem with this age group . Energy drinks , protein shakes , coffee drinks (contain a lot of sugar) which are sipped during the day are a nightmare for teeth.

It doesn’t matter what they have for their three meals a day , it’s what they eat and drinks are inbetween that’s the problem.

My DC never had any filings as teens.They are now in their 30s and still no fillings

My son is 15 and has none.
I had maybe 8 by that age (😬) but I do wonder if my dentist was a bit amalgam happy because I've never had one since we changed dentist. I guess there aren't many teeth left though! I did clean my teeth.
I am a bit self conscious when I smile becsuse you can see them but Ive been told some arent suitable for changing to white.

Amalgam lasts much longer in my experience. This is what I wanted for DS; the dentist said she couldn't do it at first as they don't place them on under 15s but his appointment ended up being the day after his 15th birthday so that's what they used in the end. You can see them when he smiles but they're not particularly noticeable. My only gripe with them personally is when they start turning dark as they tarnish but I get my hygienist to polish mine up which makes them nice and shiny again. Better than looking like you've got decay!

I assumed white would last just as long. I didnt look into it after the dentist said they couldn't do it. That has made me feel a bit better.

Two of mine you can see on the outside and it does look like I have a black teeth. Not helped by the fact that my teeth are naturally more yellow than white.

If you are confident he's cleaning his teeth properly then there isnt much point moaning at him. My brother was a fiend for fizzy drinks and didnt brush his teeth well and to my knowledge he didnt any fillings. I've never particularly drunk pop and was really good at looking after my teeth and my mouth is full of them. Go figure.

My 4 have none. There is no excuse for fillings with good oral hygiene unless there is an underlying hypomineralisation. Amalgam also leaches mercury so will be phased out over the next few years.

Hmm.

I have a partially erupted tooth at the back of my jaw. I also had a little flap of skin behind another tooth. Neither were signifucant to look at but both were almost impossible to fully clean. Even with mouth wash (before water picks) they would still sometimes get food stuck. I had the skin removed (whilst having a filling because I hadnt been able to clean it properly!) but I still struggle with the partially erupted tooth. It gets infected a few times a year. Sometimes antiseptic mouthwash will be enough to treat it, sometimes I need antibiotics. I cant have it removed because the roots are attached to other roots. Nor can I really concentrate on "scrubbing" it becsuse that aggrevates it and causes issues. I dont know how that tooth is still functioning to be honest with the ampunt if prodding it's had.

I also have very thin enamel (which us why my teeth look quite yellow) and again that makes me susceptible to erosion.

I could have had the best diet in the world and the best dental hygiene practices but I would still have had to have fillings. Maybe not as many as I have though!

No once amalgam is set there is no free elements and once mixed in the machine there is no free mercury and the reason amalgam is being phased out is because of the problems from crematoria emissions , nothing to do with them in the mouth.

Cleaning with fluoride toothpaste cannot undo the damage done by sipping or grazing inbetween meals on sugary/starchy foods.

The reason teenagers often suddenly get decay is because they start to control what they spend money on and alot of it is spent on foods and drinks that are packed full of sugar/starch eg energy drinks, coffee drinks, protein shakes , smoothies etc.

What they eat at meal times doesn’t matter but each sip or bite of sugary/starchy food inbetween meal times attacks the teeth for an hour afterwards , longer if it’s eaten or drunk just before or at bedtime even if they brush their teeth afterwards .

Not true. Mercury vapour is released for the lifetime of the filling and is bioaccumulative.

Somewhat controversial as the machines used in studies to measure are acknowledged to over estimate amounts and counts are done after 30 solid minutes of chewing .

The possible bio accumulation is acknowledged , even by the anti amalgamists , to be far less than that accumulated by most people in the diet by eg eating fish and sea food.

The route of accumulation is different though. Mercury vapour from amalgam is absorbed in the lungs and it’s mainly Methylmercury in seafood and that is absorbed in the gut. Neither are great. The risks of amalgam were being discussed when I was at dental school in the early 90s yet nothing much has changed. It was a consultant who first mentioned it to me when I was involved in a research trial as a student to earn some extra money. Intracravicular salivary transport rates. I had to wear a shield on a quadrant of my teeth and not brush them for a month😂.

Risks were discussed when I was in dental school in the 1980s and there was a notorious Tom Mangold “documentary” on the BBC that was totally wrong. It was also the heyday of Hal Huggins and other anti amalgamists who charged massive amounts of money to remove amalgams falsely claiming it would cure everything from MS to in fertility . Many of them have been struck off .

It is still a very useful material , particularly in individuals with poor diet , oral hygiene and moisture control. The statistics still say they last longer than composites and dentists , who are exposed to far higher levels of mercury than the public with a few fillings , still have the same life expectancy in the U.K. , if not a little higher, than average.

None. I would be devastated.
80% of the decay in 20% of the population.
2 causes:
hypomineralised enamel
too much sugar
maybe also mad anti fluoride nutcase parents!

More mercury is released in the removal of amalgam than leaving them alone so no surprises there. I’ve got amalgams in from the 80s and still going strong so I agree with the longevity arguement.
There is growing evidence of a link between mercury and some neurodegenerative conditions so I’d personally avoid moving forward and composites are getting better by the year.
Life expectancy is multi factoral and I wouldn’t like to attempt to pull out the effects of mercury from that complex web😂.
overall, there are far more risky things but I’d still prefer a move away.