Xray questions..
 

The dentist i went to today looked at my panoramic xray and saw what looked (to me) was worn enamel, such as it should show all white around the tooth, she showed me spots where it was grey. Just because it's grey, does it mean a filling is needed? I'm 25, she told me I needed fillings (white) in tooth: 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28 with 29, 30, 31 needing crowns and three wisdom teeth removed. I understand I didn't take great care of my teeth but I also don't want someone to ruin my teeth with white fillings since they do only last 5-7 years on average, so I'd be needing crowns probably at that point..

Mike,

Two questions ... do you floss your teeth every day? Do you drink soda, other sugary drinks or gatorade?

Not flossing every day can cause cavities to form in between the teeth. Which means if #2 has a cavity on the (medsial) side of it next to #3 then #3 will have a cavity on it too... and so on.

Drinking soda, any sugary or acidic drinks will cause the enamel to break down and cavities will form.

If you don't have the cavities fixed, the decay will progress into the nerves and infect the teeth. That is not a maybe, that is a definite thing.

White fillings can last 10 yrs or more depending on how large they are. That sure beats ending up with no teeth in 10 yrs!

If you are in doubt of what she told you, get your xrays and seek a second opinion.

Bryanna

yes i used to drink soda, never gatorade, and i do floss at night.

i did take photos of my xrays, but not sure how readable they are, and i can't post them either according to the forum rules, boo.

also, at what point can it be reminerlized, as most of the grey spots she showed me were right on the edge, like if the "enamel" was a crown, it would be on the left and right edges only, not in the middle

Also, she wants to do RCT on the tooth that broke because it's near the root, however there's no pain. Is that normal?

Hi Mike,

Other people have posted their xrays here. So I don't know if that rule has changed or not. You could ask Chemar.

One of the problems with teeth is that sometimes there is no pain. However, that does not mean it's ok to leave a problem alone. I personally would not do a root canal on any tooth because it renders the tooth chronically infected and inflamed so the only sure way to rid yourself of that and the systemic consequence of that would be to have it removed.

Any sugar in the diet causes the enamel of the teeth to break down. It is like putting acid directly on the teeth. The more sugar you consume in your diet and bathe your teeth in (any sugary drink), the higher the acid in the mouth, the more break down of the enamel. Once the breakdown occurs, there is no reversing it back to it's original state. The only thing you can do it repair the damage that has already been done and eliminate the sugar to avoid it from occuring again.

Using Xylitol in place of sugar... chewing xylitol gum after meals can help to remineralize some tiny areas of newly developed enamel breakdown. But it will not restore the damage that has already been done if it is more than minimal.

Hope this is helpful to you..
Bryanna

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Hello Mike
as you are a new member, the forum software will automatically block you from posting links to anything ie your posts get blocked if you try to post any form of link
BUT
as Jo*mar suggested above, you can use our attachments feature to upload images directly from your computer. Just follow the instructions she posted which will show you how to do so

I think I attached them properly now.