Here’s a closer look at these two cavities. You can see that they extend slightly under the gumline:
And a quick review of where we started:
And the new, beautiful crowns:
One last example. It’s obvious these teeth are in need of a little work. You can see the dark grooves with the shadows underneath, and the silver filling that is in the back tooth is going to be replaced too.
Look at the extend of the decay inside this tooth. And again, no hot, cold, or bite sensitivity with only a small amount obvious on the x-ray. These are difficult to find and diagnose!
So here we go again….just starting to clean out the cavity and look how much is hidden inside this tooth!
And the final product…….they came out great! But when you look at where we started, there’s NO WAY you’d have known how extensive these were.
Here’s something that we’re seeing more and more of…cavities that are tough to diagnose, but still substantial in size. I really think this is due to the hardness of enamel from fluoride use over the years. Don’t misunderstand…I think fluoride is an excellent means to deter cavities. The problem is when the bacteria finally break through the enamel. Let’s start with this case:
Yes, you can see the dark grooves that indicate a cavity. But wait….there’s more!
So to review…we started out here:
A few minutes later we were here:
What would YOU want for YOUR tooth?
Since this tooth was cracked for a second time, this patient was told by her dentist that the ONLY solution was to place a porcelain crown. She wasn’t excited about the possibility of having a crown on this one front tooth. I took a more conservative approach, though…..what would YOU want done with YOUR tooth?
We cleaned off a good portion of the old filling and then added to the lower corner of both teeth to change the contour and appearance. An easy, quick fix that looks great!
