Fillings: white v amalgam

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

My son has beautiful, naturally white, even and strong teeth, but at 17 he needs his first filling. He can have an NHS amalgam filling for free, as he's under 18 and a student, or I can pay £90 for hinm to have a white filling. I can afford this.

Which is better?

white - they can be in for years.

amalgam are stronger, last longer. FACT.

I had a tiny little white filling when i was 18, ( all others are amalgam) this white one was replaced about 4 times, getting bigger each time, eventually root canal, then had to have it extracted when i was pregnant! I wish I had just had an amalgam and not been so vane

oh - listen to her not me.

I am vain - I had my amalgam one replaced with a white one earlier this year. I much prefer it. The dentist told me that the more modern white fillings last longer than the older ones. I have no idea if this is actually true.

well that was my exxperience, but I do have a dentist in the family who concurs this.

imagine having a bad tooth that would normally be treated with anti biotics but can't cos you are in the early weeks of pregnancy that then has to be extracted WITHOUT anaestic for four hours, knowing that you are going to have a big gap when you smile and you are getting married in 3 weeks, then you have a miscarriage the day before your wedding anyway. And now you look like a toothless crone. Its enough to put you off white fillings for good, I can tell you.

I had a lovely lovely wedding btw, and I've got a gorgeous baby who has just got his first tooth

My dentist told me white do not last as long...

My dentist has replaced my amalgam fillings with white ones as they've needed re-doing and they've been fab. None of the white ones has needed doing again, despite some of them being pretty old now. Our dentist is excellent, and meticulous with her work.

zwiggy - that is really sad - I am glad you had a good day and a lovely boy.

Oldlady - my dentist gave me a white filling in my molar for free - I wonder what the criteria are for having to pay? Mine was only titchy if it makes a difference.

I'd say go for white anyway just on vanity - also isn't there some controversy over the ingredients in amalgam? Or is that all old-hat now?

bbbee it was stressful but it wasn't sad. don't worry about me .

if it is not going to be somewhere prominent then amalgam is prolly best, tho I'm sure white ones are much better these days

I know I am silly- just touched me a bit

Where is the filling going to be?
Out of interest I had a white filling replaced earlier this year but it was only 43 quid. Had been in for 21 years.

White. My amalgam fillings were so strong that they caused fractures in my teeth eventually causing more damage. My white replacements have been great. No more photos of me with a mouth full of metal.

Wow, I didn't expect such a fast response to a rather boring query lol! Thanks all, for your input.

I have amalgam fillings myself, some approaching 40 years old (but I haven't been to a dentist for over 20 again) and I'm not concerned about the lead aspect, but if a white one would last as long I'd happily shell out for it. It's a molar, so it's not immediately obvious unless he laughs, but he actually broke it so it's not a tiny hole.

it's not lead, it's mercury. And although there is controversy around it, the general feeling among dentists is that amalgam fillings themselves don't leak mercury while in place. They DO "leak" mercury when they are drilled out, however.

I would go for white.

Of course thumbwitch, you're right about mercury. I am now thinking about mad hatters.

hee hee!

I had my first white filling last year, it didn't look natural and was told it would need replacing in 8 - 10 yrs.

However, like Zwiggy I've ended up having the tooth extracted whilst pregnant!!!

Not sure I would have another as in the long term, it wasn't worthwhile and I am still in pain

I have had 2 white fillings so far and no problem with either.

I was warned off having any amalgam fillings replaced while pregnant and breastfeeding because of the mercury vapour release.
My mouth resembles that of Metal Mickey (remember that show?) and I intend to get each filling replaced with white as and when they need doing.

Have just read this thread and am a bit worried now as had to have amalgam filling drilled out when pregnant.

What are the health implications for a foetus? My son is 4 now and healthy but could it have damaged him in some way that I don't know about?

Twizzler if it was just one filling I doubt it was a problem. Mercury is a cumulative toxic metal anyway, so it takes a fair bit before it builds up to cause any real problem.

As I said, I have a large amount of amalgam in my mouth (some of my molars are held together by amalgam! ) and there had been a bit of an issue with pregnant women choosing to get all their teeth re-done while it's free, thus increasing the amount of mercury vapour released in a very short space of time.

DH had a white filling done last year - it fell out within six months.

Phew! Thank you!

It was only one. Had to have a tooth built back up again as broke it when biting into a family size block of dairy milk that had been in the freezer (pregnancy craving).

at Twizzler

my white fillings have been in for 15 or so years, I have problem teeth, everytime they do a new filling it ends up attacking the nerve and I have to have it root filled anyhow the point I'm trying to make is that sometime bad experiences are down to the individual persons reaction to the work not what they use/how they do it etc.