re: OT Dentists: Question on Kids' Fillings

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Don't listen to the guy who says don't waste your money. There's a reason the dentist says it needs a crown. Not doing anything can just cause more expensive problems.

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There are a lot of dentists who massively overtreat patients for one simple reason - $$$. There was one dentist in particular in my area that would treatment plan a stainless steel crown for virtually every baby tooth with a small cavity. His patients would often come to me for a second opinion and end up saving $1,000 on a couple appointments for their kid. If it is a primary molar, they may not be losing the tooth until around 10-12 years old, and even on back teeth a "silver" crown can look unsightly.
If it is a large cavity, a crown may be the only option, and on a primary tooth the stainless steel crown is the way to go. But if it a small-medium sized cavity (even if it extends between the teeth), quite often a filling will do the job at much less expense. I tended to put amalgam fillings in most kids as opposed to resin (white) fillings for a couple reasons - resin fillings are much more technique sensitive (particularly in regards to moisture control during placement) and take longer to do, and too many kids are uncooperative. But even an amalgam filling is better looking and more conservative than a prefabricated stainless steel crown. Also, I would never put a porcelain crown on a baby tooth - far too costly, and too much tooth reduction is needed. I would definitely get a second opinion to see if a crown is necessary as opposed to a filling if you are concerned.
Don't always take a dentist's word unless you have complete trust in him. There are a lot of slimy dentists out there. The amount of cheating that went on in dental school was unlike anything I had ever seen. They literally called a class meeting once to devise a cheating system for a test. Guys took teachers fishing in exchange for tests. Girls allegedly traded sex for grades, etc. I walked out in the middle of the class meeting when I realized what it was about and caught a lot of crap for it. Too many dentists out there worship the dollar.