freedom since feb and now its time for white fillings - uk

[river]

Hiya, i cant belive iv been braces free for 4 months ! I was in braces for 3 years and 4 months . its amazing how quickly i forgot about all the years , pain and hassel.

Now iv decided to get rid of my metal fillings , mainly the ones on the bottom as im paranoid about people seeing them. Im just wondering if any one else has changed their metal fillings for white ones ? and what they paid ?

I went to my dentist yesterday for a check up on the nhs and talked to my dentist ( he's so nice - blush ) , in three weeks time im going back to have three lower and one upper metal fillings removed and having all white put in instead . for this im being charged £340 , which i though was a really good price as it includes xrays plus scale and polish.

Im a bit scared but when i had braces i had to have three teeth removed in one day so it cant be as bad that

If i can i will take some before and after pics to show how i get on tc sarah x

[Jamesyeats]

I had 4 fillinngs on perfectly healthy teeth as a "preventative" measure because apparently they were food traps - now that way of thinking is frowned upon. I had them all taken out and replaced with white ones for £250 I think, it was a couple of years ago. Shop around!
There was no pain at all, but that might be because I had no cavities in the first place.

[platinum]

Now iv decided to get rid of my metal fillings , mainly the ones on the bottom as im paranoid about people seeing them. Im just wondering if any one else has changed their metal fillings for white ones ? and what they paid ?

All but one of my metal fillings have broken down and they have been replaced by white fillings. I really like white fillings.

[TigerLily]

Good point on the whitening.

I had two done and they were £70 each. Didn't hurt at all and I was straight to work afterwards. The dentist did give me an local injection which I was surprised about but it was fine. I had been thinking about putting them off for longer as I do want to get my teeth whitened after braces.

However, my dentist 'made' me to get these old fillings replaced with white ones before my braces on. It was something I've been putting off for ages. He said amalgam contacts and expands in the tooth so as dental hygiene is so important whilst braced I should have composite ones done before. That said, he's been trying to get me to get them replaced for the 5 years I've been going there, perhaps I was spoiling his 'mercury free practice' LOL. Oh well I had over 20 years out of those amalgam ones so I can't really complain. And they are nice!

I think it doesn't matter too much about the whitening impact on my teeth as the fillings are right at the back(the hygienist said it's composite on front teeth that matters), but if you have a choice and are thinking of whitening, maybe get that done first?

[Jamesyeats]

There was no pain at all, but that might be because I had no cavities in the first place.

Hmm. Don't think there's a correlation there.

Got to love the "drill and fill" culture that used to be so prevalent in the UK I do hope those original fillings were not at all recent, James?

Nope, about 20 years ago!

[Lisa65]

I'm another victim of the "drill and fill" era of British dentistry and I've got loads of those horrible black fillings. I will probably get at least the bottom ones changed once I'm out of braces.

Let us know how it goes River. £340 doesn't sound too bad.

[Miss Smiley]

I had my upper fillings changed out and will get my lowers changed when I'm done. I am in the U.S. and had dental insurance through work which made me responsible for $40USD per tooth of composite.

[Hustler]

I only had white fillings and then I went to some old local dentist who gave me a metal one. I never returned there but I'm annoyed he did that when white ones were available.