dental fillings while pregnant

[Mog]

I need a medium size filling on a back tooth. The dentist doesn't want to give me a silver one while pregnant, so my options are a temporary filling until after baby, a cover to prevent further decay or going private and having a white filling. I decided to go for the last one but I read on one of the dental threads that white fillings might not be the best for back teeth. Can anyone give me any more details/their experience of this?

Hi Mog. I cannot believe you posted this tonigh. My filling has just crumbled and dropped out (while I was chewing sugar free gum - I thought it was supposed to be good for my teeth as I NEEED mint at the moment). I'm 33pg, so I don't mind a temporary filling but what about the anesthetic? I'm very scared of dentists, I don't know if I could cope without an anesthetic. Are white fillings available on NHS?

I'm not an expert but I think if the filling is in the front section of the mouth, white fillings are on the NHS but if they are at the back you have to pay. It will cost me £55 to have the back done as a white filling but I don't want to go ahead with this if the white fillings are less durable than the silver ones. I don't love the dentist either and I think it is this feeling of not really being informed that contributes. By the way, I HATE that feeling of a tooth crumbling in your mouth!!!

There must be some dentists out there who can tell us? Are white less durable? Are they free for front teeth? What is the average price for teeth whitening? - ok I know I am going off on a tangent here, but thought I would just ask!

Mog in certain situations/mouths they are less durable - ask your dentist if this is the case for this tooth/filling or if white will be just as long lasting.
good luck.
Lollypop, don't worry , you can still get an anaesthetic while pregnant.

Just been on a course for tooth whitening - about £300 for both top and bottom teeth.
The lecturer was extremely impressive - held our attention for two hours, then when she went to sit down you could see she was very heavily pregnant.

Jasper,
Can I pick your dental knowledge? During and just after pregnancy 1, I had to have 2 fillings, 2 crowns and a wisdom tooth removed. It's now 6 months since I had that work done and I'm on pregnancy no.2. I went for my 6 month check last week and I need 3 fillings. I'm alarmed at the rate of decay of my teeth, especially as I brush 2-3 times a day and mouthwash and floss (although I'm not so religious about the flossing). My dentist did say two of the fillings were small and could wait till after this baby is born. What could I be doing wrong, or is this pregnancy affecting my teeth or are some people more prone to decay? My husband went to the dentist last year after a gap of about 10 years and only needed 1 filling!! I'd be grateful for any insight you can give.

Mog, I used to have white fillings in my back teeth, they never felt 'right', they kind of felt like they bounced in my tooth when I walked. I had them replaced with gold ones, they are absolutely brilliant, feel like a normal tooth and are really comfortable. Think they cost about £60 each.

Just got back from the dentist. He's given me a temporary filling which should hold for a few months. I turned up to make an appointment and he did it on the spot. He said he's not allowed to put in or remove 'normal' filling while I'm pg.

Paula,totally agree about gold fillings -they are lovely, and in some situations you can get them on the NHS
Mog a patient once said something clever to me after they hads to get yet another filling replaced "I suppose they are like light bulbs - they all go at once."
There is an element of truth in this. Many people of our generation got most of their fillings placed when teenagers.Then they got their act together, stop eating rubbish and start brushing their teeth.
If a filling lasts about 20 years it stands to reason that you might have a run of needing them replaced in your thirties.
In answer to your questions, yes some people are more prone to decay, and no, pregnancy does not weaken your teeth(despite many anecdotes to the contrary)
A final thought, ask your dentist if you are brushing as well as you might. You would be amazed how many people just don't somehow make a good job of toothbrushing despite spending lots of time doing it.
Even if you are more prone to decay, it is just back to the same boring advice about cutting down the number of times a day you assault your teeth with sugar (in ANY format, not just the obvious stuff like sweets), and brushing regularly with a fluoride toothpaste.
That is the simplified toothcare message!
There is a lot of small stuff I could add but it has all been said before , and none is as important as diet and oral hygiene, and What not to Wear is about to come on telly!

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Most of the problem with sugar is the frequent consumption of usually small amounts throughout the day . If you are happy to chew a lump of cheese after every morsel of sugar you eat or drink we'll see you over on the weight loss thread

I think this frequent consumption of small amounts could be my problem-I tend to be a bit of a snacker when it comes to food. Is this a real no-no when it comes to teeth or is there anything I can do to counteract it?
I'm the type who likes to know the science behind what's happening in my body but there don't seem to be any good dental sites out there. Anyone found one?
I'm also curious - since I have to have three fillings - do they weaken teeth?

Mog, you can't be serious about not finding good dental websites out there! Have you ever tried typing any of the following into a search engine- dentistry, tooth decay,periodontal disease, fillings, tooth care, amalgam, cosmetic dentistry, fluoride, xylitol, triclosan... You will be there all week!

Like most stuff on the net lots of the sites contain plenty of good stuff with a sprinkling of utter rubbish or a skewed emphasis on trivial stuff. Some of the comercial ones are excellent as they have to be sure not to give out misinformation.
Yes, snacking is a real no no tooth wise but obviously not all snacks are equally harmful to your teeth, but those that aren't so bad (or are even good for your teeth if eaten after sugar to restore the alkalinity of the mouth) tend not to be so good for your waistline!(salty, savoury, fatty foods) Sugar free chewing gum is not particularly satisfying as a snack but is helpful in that it stimulates salivary flow and helps to wash out the mouth. If the artificila sweetener is Xylitol better still as it seems to have active anti decay properties.(makes the bad bacteria less able to adhere to the tooth)
One of the biggest dangers is frequent cups of sweetened tea/coffee or cans of drink. Even the diet varieties are not great as they can erode the enamel from your teeth (erosion is not the same as decay) as well as providing an acid environment which the decay causing bugs in your mouth prefer. (Some of our patients drink over twenty cans of diet coke a day.)
Fluoride in toothpaste is just the bees knees tooth wise as it toughens the enamel. You have to go out of your way to buy a non fluoride toothpaste so you are probably using one already.
I could go on all night about this but would bore you to tears.
Do fillings weaken the teeth? Yes, but in a controlled way which is preferable to leaving decay in place or leaving a crevice where an old filling has cracked.
Hope this helps

you have probably seen this great site as it has been mentioned here often - more relevant to childrens teeth but worth a look.

Although this discussion is about decay and fillings, as adults we should be far more concerned about gum disease as that is how we are more likely to lose our teeth if we are not careful.

Jasper,
I'm loathe to take up more of your time as I'm sure you must have a busy life with children and work, but if you have time I would love to hear what it is like to be a dentist. What do you enjoy about it and what are the boring bits/ most difficult bits. You sound as if you would explain things to patients, but I have yet to have a dentist who will do this voluntarily - is this because it is a very time pressured job.

Just typed a great spiel and lost it AARGH!
Mog I LOVE my job, and always did apart from a blip when I had to work full time after having my first two kids. Now I work three days a week, and it is great.
Bad points? Noone likes the dentist (understandibly) so this means you have to put up with a lot of cr*p along the lines of
" the dentist did not spot the decay in my child's teeth/ drilled the wrong tooth" Basically people are loathe to accept responsibility for their own/their childens dental health.

Will post this in chunks like Lizzer..

Most of all I hate dealing with pain in young childrens' teeth. It is completely avoidable but sadly there is a correlation between kids who are fed a lot of tooth rotting rubbish and kids who won't sit still for treatment!
I have on occasions sat in my car at the end of the day and cried over some distressed four year old who had to undergo some scary treatment.This may sound over the top but rampant decay in childrens teeth is a form of neglect/abuse. It is SO avoidable. The odd spot of decay is completely understandible but honestly., you would be shocked at some of the kids' mouths I see.
What do I like about the job?
Relieving pain painlessly, changing perceptions about dentistry, improving peoples' appearance, making great dentures, giving painless injections, working with a lovely team of people, being part of a "shopfront" community....

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Sorry you have had bad experiences with dentists Robinw.(also doctors and teachers I see from other discussions)
Yes I did see something in the Readers Digest recently about a diet high in Dairy accelerating weight loss. Anyone know more?
Yes Mog it is a very time pressured job, but most jobs seem to be nowadays, don't they?
The thought of the stresses involved in , say, teaching give me the shudders.

I live in roughly the same area as Jasper and I have seen babies and toddlers with IRN BRU in their bottles. I initially thought that it must be some kind of juice until I spotted one mother opening a can and decanting it into the bottle. I think the stuff should be banned for under 16's

Jasper - thanks for all that info. Sweets for my dd is something I have a complete horror of. The other day at the bus stop an old lady gave her two boiled sweets, one of which she then proceeded to suck the whole bus journey. When we got off I must admit I took it off her and gobbled it up myself (thankfully she forgot about it quite quickly). Then she came home from the hairdressers the other day (with dh, needless to say) sucking on a lollipop! Why can't they give them chocolate treats? Or even better a sticker.

Just one question for you: what do you think about electric toothbrushes? I've really got no excuse, as I was at the dentist's last night, but I completely forgot to ask. Thanks.

Jasper, my DS2 has very poor enamel on his 6-yr-old molars. He has already (aged 9) started orthodontics for a crowded mouth and very oddly arranged front teeth (incisors have come in one behind the other, through the palate) and the orthodontist is considering extracting the bad molars to make space, rather than the premolars. What worries me a bit is that a dentist he saw about 2 years ago said that he would have been under some physical stress while I was pregnant to make the enamel like that - is this correct? If so what kind of stress? (I don't have enough maternal guilt to deal with already?) His other adult teeth are fine so far.

Re the bottles of Irn Bru - he was watching the Simpsons tonight - in one scene Lisa snapped a teat (one of those stretchy Playtex ones presumably) onto the top of a can of coke and handed it back to Maggie - eek!
(Mind you it was a Halloween episode...)

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