>
>Dentists routinely fill very small cavities that should have been left
>alone. Its called makin' money.


Except for the horribly unethical dentists, the normal dentist does not
fill very small cavities that should have been left alone just to make
money.  I have plenty of work to do on other people without filling
unecessarily.  But each situation has to be looked at by itself, taking the
patient's attitude, oral hygiene, and past oral problems into account.  I
fill some small cavities on some people that I would not fill on others.
We watch a lot of areas on some patients for years, and on other patients
that continually have poor OH and lots of decay I would fill those areas
right away.   I work with nine other dentists and none of them fill
cavities when they don't need it.

It's amazing how many dental problems that people have are passed along as
results of poor or unethical dentists.  I had a patient today who came in
complaining that this dentist had caused this and that dentist caused that
and she hopes I could do better.  She had lots of dentisty done....bridges,
braces, crowns.  There was decay everywhere, under crowns, under fillings.
But there was plaque everwhere....and thick!  Gums swollen from all of the
bacteria.  When I mentioned it, she said that she didn't brush after lunch,
but that she thoroughly brushes and flosses everyday.  When I tried to show
her the plaque and how to get it off, she just kept saying that she's known
all that and she does all that, etc. etc.  I'm sure all of the other
dentists told her the same thing.  If she would just LISTEN, and do what we
say, she would have beautiful teeth,  but right now she needs a scapegoat.

The moral to this story is, no matter what anyone tells you about diets or
supplements or mouth washes or anything else to help your teeth, the only
sure way to have good strong teeth is to brush properly and floss everday,
getting out all the plaque, and see your dentist every six months for a
cleaning and occassional xrays.  Period!
Paul Getty
Morehead City, NC
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