Have the Dentistry You Want and Deserve
During your consultation, you will be given verbal and written information describing in detail your dental problems and the treatment alternatives available to you to eliminate these problems and to reach your oral health goals. You need this information in order to base your decision on fact. As your dentist we must, by law, inform you of your dental problems and the alternative treatments we can provide. You must also understand the financial investment involved, because you will have to make financial arrangements to pay for all procedures.
How to Know What Is Best
One way to determine the best way to proceed in restoring your mouth to optimum oral health is to decide how long you want the fillings/restorations to last before they have to be replaced. It is a fact of life that almost anything a dentist makes for you (any type of filling or restoration placed) will eventually need to be replaced. Laws of physics and chemistry simply cannot be suspended. All filling materials are subject to fatigue. When the fatigue reaches a certain point, the filling breaks and the tooth must be prepared for a filling once again. You have great control over the interval at which the fillings must be replaced. In short, you get what you pay for. The “indirect” restorations that will last the longest and protect the tooth will cost the most initially. If we examine this option over the long term, you will wind up paying less money for the tooth to be restored because the restoration will not have to be replaced and paid for again and again.
Less expensive “direct” fillings can work very well, but usually for a shorter length of time. Most of the less expensive fillings will need to be replaced in at least 5 to 12 years. “Indirect” laboratory-processed crowns, bridges, and crowns can last much longer. Again, this type of restoration will cost more initially.
The expertise of our dentist, as well as the quality of the materials, is an important aspect to consider in making your treatment decisions. The best dentist cannot make a less expensive, direct placement material last as long or protect the tooth as well as the more expensive, indirect laboratory-processed material.
