Am I entitled to White fillings?

IrishEyes19

Hi guys, well finally braved the dentist. Will have to get 2 fillings on the bottom teeth. Will I be able to get white fillings. I just dont want to have silver metal on my teeth for everyone to see. Does every dentist give you the right to have white ones or do I have no choice. Also what cost am I looking at? thanks

lainycool

IrishEyes19 wrote: »

Hi guys, well finally braved the dentist. Will have to get 2 fillings on the bottom teeth. Will I be able to get white fillings. I just dont want to have silver metal on my teeth for everyone to see. Does every dentist give you the right to have white ones or do I have no choice. Also what cost am I looking at? thanks

One thing is for sure don't get mercury!!!!

dlofnep

Avoid amalgam fillings, they contain mercury - a highly toxic substance. It ruined my health, and could ruin yours.

davo10

IrishEyes19 wrote: »

Hi guys, well finally braved the dentist. Will have to get 2 fillings on the bottom teeth. Will I be able to get white fillings. I just dont want to have silver metal on my teeth for everyone to see. Does every dentist give you the right to have white ones or do I have no choice. Also what cost am I looking at? thanks

"entitled"?. As the patient you can request any type of filling you want, silver, white, porcelain, gold etc. The dentist will give you the pros and cons of each specific to your situation and the costs of each, you can then decide which one you want.

White fillings are more costly, they take longer to put in due to the requirement of a layering technique and the materials are more expensive. Costs vary from clinic to clinic and will also depend on size and location of cavity (larger fillings on back teeth being more expensive than smaller fillings on front teeth).

I'm not sure about entitlement with med card, it used to be that you were entitled only to white fillings on front teeth and only if you haven't had the same tooth filled in previous 5 years, other posters may be able to give more up to date details on this.

was.deevey

I wasn't even aware they did anything but white composite fillings anymore, even my very first ones going back around 20 years ago were white, on my back teeth and done on the medical card at the time. Had a few since and wasn't even given a choice of anything else.

White fillings are more costly, they take longer to put in due to the requirement of a layering technique and the materials are more expensive.

They never took long, even deep ones were only about 10 mins to set once the drilling/cleaning was done.

About 5 years ago I got 9 fillings total, 4 bad 5 surface ones done in Asia (after an Irish dentist botched one badly and cemented 2 of my teeth together)

They were all color matched composite as well rather than "just white". 120 euro inclusive of 2 x-rays over the course of 12 hours :eek:

davo10

As far as I'm aware white fillings on back teeth were never covered by med card, fissure sealants perhaps?

One of the draw backs of early generation composites was their poor durability and colour stability, I'm not surprised you needed them replaced after 20 years, I am surprised they lasted that long.

If they only took ten minutes they were not cured in increments of no greater depth than 1mm for 40 seconds as required by composite manufacturers. This will have a huge effect on the setting characteristics of the material and therefore it's properties. If composite is light cured in bulk, it contracts and stresses the side wall of the teeth increasing the likelihood of sensitivity and nerve damage.

christmas2012

fissure sealants are covered by the medical card as i had them done in the recent past,for fillings you need to pay for them,fortunatley fillings wont cost anything over 70-80 if you have a good look around,ive gotten 2 fillings done for 85,there are some good deals to be got,its always handy to have money saved aside for dental emergencies such as replacing fillings or going to the dentist with abcesses for antiboitics and painkillers..

hg03 eyu

fissure sealants are not covered by the medical card

Dental treatment on the medical card is available for adults aged 16 and older.

Fissure sealants are not appropriate for patients over 16 except perhaps special needs patients

digzy

christmas2012 wrote: »

fissure sealants are covered by the medical card as i had them done in the recent past,for fillings you need to pay for them,fortunatley fillings wont cost anything over 70-80 if you have a good look around,ive gotten 2 fillings done for 85,there are some good deals to be got,its always handy to have money saved aside for dental emergencies such as replacing fillings or going to the dentist with abcesses for antiboitics and painkillers..

is there no end to the madness:rolleyes:?
are you trying to put the most amount of inaccurate info in one post?

christmas2012

I was looking at a price list recently of a dental practice i was making plans to go to,and i seen that fissure sealants are covered by the medical card,and that fillings are not covered by the medical card,(what is inaccurate about that?)and that only certain dentists do the the medical card,not all accept public aswell as private paying patients..

hg03 eyu

digzy wrote: »

is there no end to the madness:rolleyes:?
are you trying to put the most amount of inaccurate info in one post?

+1

IrishEyes19

thanks for the replies guys, Im not looking for info regarding the medical card, I dont have one. I just was wondering if white fillings were available in all dentists or would I have to have special circumstances, thanks again, thats great for the info!!

Oral Surgeon

IrishEyes19 wrote: »

thanks for the replies guys, Im not looking for info regarding the medical card, I dont have one. I just was wondering if white fillings were available in all dentists or would I have to have special circumstances, thanks again, thats great for the info!!

Q are fillings available in dental surgeries..??? Yes

Big_G

dlofnep wrote: »

Avoid amalgam fillings, they contain mercury - a highly toxic substance. It ruined my health, and could ruin yours.

Avoid scaremongering nonsense. Unfortunately there is insufficient evidence for or against adverse health effects caused by amalgam.

Please take advice from a registered dentist on this issue.

That is all.

Lolabear

Hey IrishEyes19, i just had two of the white fillings done today at my dentist, when i was told i had to get fillings i asked about the white ones straight away as i had a lot of work done with braces and i didnt want big black dots in my mouth.

I do have a medical card and was told two fillings are covered but they are the black ones and i would have to pay €40 extra on each filling for white, so in the end i was only charged €70 for the two...

I understand that you dont have a med card but when i was paying the receptionist said it could have been around €150 .... if i didnt have a med card...

That is just my experience and i hadnt been to the dentist for like 10 years so tht wasn't to bad! If i were you i would just call and ask your dentist what the story is before your appointment!!!

best of luck!!

hg03 eyu

Lolabear wrote: »

Hey IrishEyes19, i just had two of the white fillings done today at my dentist, when i was told i had to get fillings i asked about the white ones straight away as i had a lot of work done with braces and i didnt want big black dots in my mouth.

I do have a medical card and was told two fillings are covered but they are the black ones and i would have to pay €40 extra on each filling for white, so in the end i was only charged €70 for the two...

I understand that you dont have a med card but when i was paying the receptionist said it could have been around €150 .... if i didnt have a med card...

That is just my experience and i hadnt been to the dentist for like 10 years so tht wasn't to bad! If i were you i would just call and ask your dentist what the story is before your appointment!!!

best of luck!!

The medical card provides for white fillings on front teeth and silver fillings on back teeth.

The medical card scheme does not provide a subsidy for white filling on back teeth because the dentist cannot claim for a white filling on a back tooth.

It appears that your dentist is falsely claiming for a silver filling and then charging you a top up fee.