Hi all,

I hope that this is an appropriate place to start this discussion, if
not, please let me know where would be appropriate.

OK, backstory - I'm 34 years old, had a family dentist as a kid, and
went every year for regular cleanings etc.  Also had braces in junior
high/early high school but they didn't work out so well (more on that
later.)  Family dentist only gave me one filling and that was my
freshman or sophomore year in college.  After I graduated college, I
did not have dental insurance so since I had no problems with my teeth
I just didn't go to a dentist.  Finally got a job with insurance in
2000 but was laid off six months later.  Went to a dentist - just
picked a name off the list of dentists that participated in my
insurance program - quickly before my insurance ran out.  Was shocked
to hear that I needed to have six (!?!?!?!) teeth filled but went
ahead and did it because I didn't know when I would have insurance
again.  All of the fillings done were amalgam, except for the one done
by my old family dentist, not sure what that one was.  I did not have
a good feeling about this dentist because a) I suspected that he was
filling everything that might possibly look like a hole to get the
most from my insurance and b) this was in Detroit, not the most
affluent area, everything seemed to be done quick and cheap.  I didn't
have time to find the "rich people's dentist" though.

Fast forward to today.  I got a better job about three years ago, but
still wasn't having problems with my teeth so put off going to the
dentist until I could get a recommendation with a GOOD one.  Was
recommended a dentist by my PCP and when I checked him out online
found that he was highly recommended by all his patients.  Went in for
the usual irradiating, scraping, and buffing, and was told several
things:

1) I apparently have very large, strong roots on all my teeth save for
my lower front teeth.  Was told that this was possibly due to
orthodontic work in the past, that moving teeth too quickly can cause
roots to not develop fully or even become reabsorbed.  This makes
sense, because I quit wearing my retainers in college because while I
was told that I only needed to wear them at night, if I did so my
teeth would actually shift enough during the day that I'd have to jam
the retainers in, and I remember having several mildly loose and
sensitive teeth.  I decided that I was not vain enough to put up with
this for the rest of my natural life and just let my teeth go where
they would.  I have two noticeably crooked teeth but other than that
no issues.

2) I was told that amalgam fillings were "old tech" and that that
office hadn't used them at all since the mid-90's.  In fact, the
dentist flat out told me that in his opinion amalgam fillings, if left
in the teeth for 10+ years, eventually would cause the teeth to crack,
requiring that they all be capped (at of course great expense.)  He
only found evidence of decay on one of the filled teeth and
recommended that that one be replaced at my next visit, but suggested
that I should plan on having ALL of the fillings replaced before too
long to prevent issues down the road.  My concern is that this will
probably cost me over $300 per tooth and I don't know that this will
be reimbursed by my insurance (Aetna)  He also found a spot on one
tooth where the pick would catch on the edge of the filling but said
that there was no decay evident, seems to me that that is a sloppy
filling and reflects badly on the last dentist.

So...  what do I do about these old amalgam fillings?  I certainly
don't want to end up like my dad with multiple caps on his teeth...
does this new dentist sound on the up and up?  I'm a little
disappointed but honestly based on my impression of the previous
dentist am not totally surprised.  Should my insurance coverage cover
replacement of old amalgam fillings if the teeth are not decaying/
fillings are not loose/etc. or are we getting into morally
questionable territory?

thanks for any advice,

nate