George1234 wrote:

another group every once in a while to see if you are missing needed
work.
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What about the possibility that the other "group" might be composed of
aggressive dentists who have a philosophy of replacing every filling
that they didn't place themselves?

Such practitioners used to be rare, but I'm running into more of them
every year. That means the chance of encountering two in a row are
increasing.

Trust is still the biggest factor -- and the trust should be based on a
track record as reflected by well-treated patients.

When my relative moved out of town and sought the advice of a friend to
find a new dentist, she was directed to a dentist who wanted to "re-do"
her existing fillings. This was a well-established, trusted dentist in
that community.

My relative didn't feel comfortable with the idea of such immediate,
massive changes. She came back to my town over the weekend and I found
that she needed NO fillings replaced!

My relative remarked that her "friend" also seemed to have crowns and
porcelain restorations on almost ALL of her teeth. Which leads to the
earlier message from george1234:

to give you a movie star smile. Decide which end of the spectrum you
prefer."

Good advice! I would only add that it isn't necessary to pick an END of
the spectrum. Most people are better served with something in between,
which preserves and protects health LONG before "pain" is likely, but
does not go overboard in replacing healthy, normal, functioning teeth
with unnecessary porcelain.

- dentaldoc