How would I know if a dentist is conning me with fillings?

Biggest lickspittle on boardz

I used to go to a dentist who conveniently used to insist that I would need a filling or two on certain teeth. After discussing it with other people who had similar experiences, I decided to change dentists.

After mentioning that my old dentist wanted to do work on the teeth in question, the new dentist very firmly stated that the teeth did not need fillings. This was a few years ago, and the same tooth has not caused any problems since, and I get a yearly inspection.

My question is, how does a layman like myself know if I needed a filling or not? I wasn't in any pain, and I take very good care of my teeth.

Would there be a way of getting access to my old X-rays to see if I was being conned? Is there a potential for legal action if the dentist has been charging me for unnecessary fillings?

Oral Surgeon

Biggest lickspittle on boardz wrote: »

I used to go to a dentist who conveniently used to insist that I would need a filling or two on certain teeth. After discussing it with other people who had similar experiences, I decided to change dentists.

After mentioning that my old dentist wanted to do work on the teeth in question, the new dentist very firmly stated that the teeth did not need fillings. This was a few years ago, and the same tooth has not caused any problems since, and I get a yearly inspection.

My question is, how does a layman like myself know if I needed a filling or not? I wasn't in any pain, and I take very good care of my teeth.

Would there be a way of getting access to my old X-rays to see if I was being conned? Is there a potential for legal action if the dentist has been charging me for unnecessary fillings?

This gets reported or suspected more than it happens IMO.

What you are likely dealing with here is differing opinions on what treatment is needed.
One dentist may be more "proactive" and want to redo the filling because it is not ideal looking, another dentist might be more reactive and would rather let that less than ideal filling fracture before bothering refilling it. Who is right and who is wrong. The tendency is to go after the dentist who does the work and takes your money but is the second dentist not potentialy at fault for supervised neglect????
It's likely opinion and is a minefield...

You can get a copy of your old xrays, if they are film x-rays then the copy will be rubbish and hard to form an opinion on. Also, xrays don't show all decay all of the time, looking in the mouth can show decay than an x-ray might not....

Oral Surgeon

Biggest lickspittle on boardz wrote: »

I used to go to a dentist who conveniently used to insist that I would need a filling or two on certain teeth. After discussing it with other people who had similar experiences, I decided to change dentists.

After mentioning that my old dentist wanted to do work on the teeth in question, the new dentist very firmly stated that the teeth did not need fillings. This was a few years ago, and the same tooth has not caused any problems since, and I get a yearly inspection.

My question is, how does a layman like myself know if I needed a filling or not? I wasn't in any pain, and I take very good care of my teeth.

Would there be a way of getting access to my old X-rays to see if I was being conned? Is there a potential for legal action if the dentist has been charging me for unnecessary fillings?

This gets reported or suspected more than it happens IMO.

What you are likely dealing with here is differing opinions on what treatment is needed.
One dentist may be more "proactive" and want to redo the filling because it is not ideal looking, another dentist might be more reactive and would rather let that less than ideal filling fracture before bothering refilling it. Who is right and who is wrong. The tendency is to go after the dentist who does the work and takes your money but is the second dentist not potentialy at fault for supervised neglect????
It's likely opinion and is a minefield...

You can get a copy of your old xrays, if they are film x-rays then the copy will be rubbish and hard to form an opinion on. Also, xrays don't show all decay all of the time, looking in the mouth can show decay than an x-ray might not....

Dianthus

Dentistry isn't always black& white- you could put 20 different dentists in a room with one case study patient, & come out with 5 or more varying treatment plans for that same patient. All will have pros& cons, all will have some validity.

Most often, pain only arises at a fairly advanced stage- when decay is close to the pulp (nerve)- this then requires root canal treatment or extraction. The whole point of filling teeth is to do so *before* they start to give pain, when the decay is shallow.

Most dentists assume that patients may well present at another practice to another dentist for treatment. They'd also be conscious of the litigious society we now live on. Why on earth someone would add extra stress onto themselves by inventing/suggesting unnecessary treatment is beyond me; there's just no point. There are more legitimate & honest (not to mention less risky) ways of making money.

Some practices nowadays have an intraoral camera- v handy to communicate fully& clearly with patients.
A lot of it comes down to trust,& the "cut of their jib" though.