Q: I know you are not a dentist, but I need your advice. I am a
49-year-old female and have always tried to take good care of my teeth
and I still have all of them. I get a checkup every year and this year
I told my dentist I had a sensitive tooth in the back. He did a filling
and informed me it was so bad he had to put in posts and that it needed
to be capped and furthermore, the assistant, on my way out, informed me
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that I have five cavities. I nearly went into shock. I had an X-ray
last year and was told all was OK. Would you get a second opinion? I
really don’t want another X-ray.
I’ve talked to friends and from their experience all four dentists
have made mistakes like pulling out the wrong teeth. Another friend
told me his dentist had said he needed three root canals. He got a
second opinion and that dentist couldn’t see why he’d need even one.
A: I am not a dentist, although we did have to take a short course in
dentistry in medical school.
There are three possibilities here: One is that the dentist missed
finding the cavities a year ago because they were smaller.
The second is that your teeth suddenly decayed in a short time.
This can sometimes happen if you have low levels of calcium in the
body, perhaps due to osteoporosis or some other medical condition.
These could include parathyroid gland or kidney problems. Perhaps you
ate more candies than usual, or you changed to softer water. Pregnancy
can also lead to tooth decay as the growing child takes a lot of
calcium from the mother’s system.
Finally, I hate to say this, but your dentist could be short of
patients with bad teeth. With the use of fluoride toothpaste, fluoride
in some drinking water and better tooth care, most young people do not
have cavities at all.
I also had an experience with a dentist who told me I needed eight
crowns or caps on all my back teeth. There was a Porche and a Mercedes
parked outside the clinic. I got a second opinion, and was told I only
needed one crown. He patched up all the others. This was 10 years ago
and the teeth have been fine. I have seen two different dentists since
then and neither mentioned I needed more crowns.
Get a second opinion, even if it means more X-rays. I agree too many
X-rays in a short time is not recommended, but ask the new dentist to
take pictures of only the teeth in question. Dental X-rays are much
safer and give you less radioactivity than in the past.
Clare Rowson is a medical doctor with a practice near Belleville, Ont.
Her columns are intended for general information only. Individuals are
encouraged to also seek the advice of their own doctor regarding
medical questions and treatments.
