I went to this one dentist for regular checkups or when I had any problem. Many times, I had a problem with extreme sensitivity in the upper or lower jaw, right or left side and I couldn't even brush my teeth in that particular area. Usually by the time I got to the dentist, the sensitivity was gone. I would still mention it to him. He would order an extra X-ray or 2 for that side, which was done by the dental hygienist.

He would look at the X-rays and examine the teeth. He would say he couldn't find anything. That also occurred in the second semester of 2007. He could not find anything that was 'jumping at him'.

I switched dentists in 2008. I found out I had cavities near the dentine of most of my molars/wisdom teeth. I had as many teeth treated as possible at first since all the work that was needed was expensive. Then I returned for the rest . Two of my pre-molars (?) had cracked silver fillings. The new dentist worked a long time on them, treating and restoring them. He said that they were ready to split!

My question is: Why didn't the other dentist treat my teeth? Did he think that it was all MS and just dismissed it? Couldn't he have detected something with the X-Rays?

Hi onathirdjourney....

Well....... sometimes teeth become sensitive to brushing and/or temperature due to a ginding habit. This happens because as we grind our teeth, they become separated a little bit from the gum tissue which causes some gum recession which exposes some root surfaces which happent to be very sensitive areas. The way to stop this from getting worse is to determine that it is grinding and if so, wear a night guard.

The issue of the dentist not seeing the cavities......... well this certainly does happen and there is never any legitimate excuse for it. However sometimes, dentists only consider filling a tooth if the questionable area has broken through the enamel to the dentin and others fill a tooth that may not have broken through the enamel yet.

Based on your post, I have a feeling you had some recession on your molar areas that were causing you sensitivity but were not acutally cavities. Again, some dentists will fill these areas with white fillings and some will not fill them until they break through to the dentin.

Cracked silver fillings are very common. These are mercury containing fillings and they all crack over time. Again, some dentists are more pro active at removing these and some are not. I hope he replaced them with white fillings and not mercury ones especially since you have MS????

So in your case, one dentist seems to be more proactive/preventative than the other. That's my take on it anyway....

Bryanna