Hi Rrae,
It is best to wait to do the filling on that tooth because the last thing you want is to contaminate the surgical site with mercury during the removal of that old filling. I know you are anxious about the decay, but waiting a few weeks is not going to matter.
I hope the dentist is not replacing a mecury filling with another one! Mercury fillings (silver fillings) are very toxic. MOST dentists are not using that material anymore. There are tooth colored fillings that work very well and they even bond better with the tooth than the mercury ones do.
To answer your question about the flipper... yes, you could have a flipper made to hold that space open during the healing phase. It may not be absolutely necessary, but it is something that you should discuss with your dentist. Also...... once that area heals, your tongue will naturally become less curious ;-)
So if you can, wait to do the filling until the gum tissue closes over the extraction site....
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rrae
Hello Again 
I had #19 pulled 2 wks ago and as far as I know everything is fine.
This is what is driving me crazy tho........My dentist didn't want to put filling in the neighboring tooth (yet) because they want the extraction site to heal so that the 'silver stuff' won't get into the 'raw' tissue of the extracted tooth.
SO, here I sit with a huge gap.....and of COURSE my tongue won't QUIT going there  I swear it's like a freaky reptile! It's as tho the 'hole' is a magnet that my tongue won't stay out of!!
Anyway, they wanted to wait 6 WEEKS to do the filling, but I called to see if they would get me in sooner......because the minutes are turning into hours as I am consciously aware that there is a tooth decaying in my mouth as we speak! I will go in next Wednesday to see if he'll go ahead and just FILL IT ALREADY!!
I guess I just don't understand having to do all this waiting. I understand that healing process takes time...
I wish there was some sort of temporary 'tooth/bridge' type of thing that I could wear to fill in this gap and keep my stupid tongue away from it!
IS there such a thing?  Is that what a 'flipper' is?
I'm sure this seems silly to someone who is well-versed in the dental arena.
I simply don't have a clue.
I'm just SO anxious to get this decay OUT......and by having to wait to get the filling, I feel like this tooth could possibly decay beyond simple repair.
Man this sucks.
Adding: ok, i saw on a couple threads down, you described very well what a flipper is.....so I'm clear on that. My dentist's office never said anything about this tho? Are these things real expensive? Would the flipper help to keep my other teeth from 'shifting' as I wait for implant in 6 months.?
Thank you Bryanna |