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Medical Forum / General / Dentistry / March 2008Do I have cavities?
I don't know if this works, but I'm giving it a try anyway. Here is a scan of my X-rays. Can dentists here see any cavities from the x-rays? http://i25.tinypic.com/6p2nfs.jpg http://i32.tinypic.com/dhd06w.jpg Here's the story. I went one dentist, he did these x-rays and a close examination of my teeth and told me I have two cavities to be fixed. Since it was only my second visit to this dentist. I went to another dentist to get a second opinion. Without telling him about the cavities. This new dentist had his assistant, who has 15 years dental-hygienist experience, to take some small sized x-rays (not the whole mouth x-ray) and cleaned my teeth. The assistant said my teeth were good and I had no cavities. So I have two answers so far: two and none. That's my hint to you. I don't want to be confused more by dentists. So please don't tell me another different answer like "you actually have three cavities." Hope this works. Thanks for your help. * Note one rectangular white spot on one of the x-rays is a fixed cavity from 5 years ago. > I don't know if this works, but I'm giving it a try anyway. Here > is a scan of my X-rays. Can dentists here see any cavities from [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > * Note one rectangular white spot on one of the x-rays is a fixed > cavity from 5 years ago. The first (panoramic) x-ray as seen in the jpg is useless for diagnosing cavities. The second set is not well-shown. However, the rearmost upper tooth on the two x-rays on the left of the screen appears to have a very large cavity. Please note that some cavities will be apparent on visual inspection that will not be obvious on even good x-rays. Steve It looks like both upper 2nd molars have large distal decay, but the reproduction of the film isn't great. JMO, Steve > The first (panoramic) x-ray as seen in the jpg is useless for > diagnosing cavities. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Steve OGD! I finally took a look at my teeth myself and took a picture of the possible cavities. This pic doesn't look too bad. I hope it can tell a dentist like you something. This black spot looks really ugly. Is this really a cavity? How long for something this big to develop? I blindly believed that my teeth are in good condition. http://i26.tinypic.com/2i1lf8z.jpg >It looks like both upper 2nd molars have large distal decay, but the >reproduction of the film isn't great. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> >> Steve > OGD! I finally took a look at my teeth myself and took a picture > of the possible cavities. This pic doesn't look too bad. I hope > it can tell a dentist like you something. This black spot looks > really ugly. Is this really a cavity? No--this is an amalgam filling. The cavity is between the teeth. Steve > How long for something this big to develop? I blindly believed > that my teeth are in good condition. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >>> >>> Steve Thank you all for helping. But this is getting interesting. First I never knew that I had this filling. I don't know which dentist did this either. That's a fault on my part. But it's good to know that I had a filling there. Do dentists keep record on this? I'm thinking calling up a few dentist that I went over the years and ask if they did the filling. If I was told, Iwould have gone for the white filling instead of this black one. It looks ugly. >> OGD! I finally took a look at my teeth myself and took a picture >> of the possible cavities. This pic doesn't look too bad. I hope [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] >>>> >>>> Steve > Thank you all for helping. But this is getting interesting. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > filling. If I was told, Iwould have gone for the white filling > instead of this black one. It looks ugly. They certainly should. However, let's say this was placed years ago. This appears to be an upper second molar. Either material would work well in this application. If it's seldom or never seen (and you've just noticed this) how big a cosmetic problem is this--really? In a more obvious location, it is likely you would have been given a choice. Steve >>> OGD! I finally took a look at my teeth myself and took a picture >>> of the possible cavities. This pic doesn't look too bad. I hope [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >>>>> >>>>> Steve Sorry for late reply. But doctor visits take time;-) I take you words for it. It's not a big deal because it's on the back end. Now when you said in a earlier post "However, the rearmost upper tooth on the two x-rays on the left of the screen appears to have a very large cavity," were you referring to this black spot that I showed you on my picture? But then you also said "The cavity is between the teeth." So you couldn't possibly referring to this black spot as it's on the biting side. Yesterday I handed the x-rays to my new dentist and told him that my previous dentist said I have cavities. Now my new dentist is someone with years years of experience and I've heard of good comment from other patients. But I happen to be his new patient. He looked at the x-rays and said he didn't see any cavities. He had me lie down and took another visual look and said again he didn't see any. Then I called my previous dentist up and said my new dentist didn't find any cavities (for anyone who's interested in why I changed my dentist, it's because my previous dentist doesn't take my insurance but he did check my teeth and did the x-rays). He said he didn't remember well as the visit was two months ago. He looked up my record anyway, and said the cavity is "on tooth 18, occlusal and buccal". Which he explained to me as "on the cheek side and on the biting surface." So that's also different from your "between the teeth". Should I tell my new dentist the cavity's location as the other dentist told me? >> Thank you all for helping. But this is getting interesting. >> [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] >>>>>> >>>>>> Steve > Sorry for late reply. But doctor visits take time;-) > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > a very large cavity," were you referring to this black spot that > I showed you on my picture? No. IIRC, the "black spot" on the photo was clearly an amalgam filling (on the chewing surface of the tooth. But then you also said "The cavity > is between the teeth." So you couldn't possibly referring to this > black spot as it's on the biting side. Right. The cavity was visible in the x-ray as a diffuse dark area. I can't look for the link right now; I recall the decay was on the distal (the surface up against the third (or final) molar. I believe Dr. Fawks mentioned decay on the opposite second molar as well. I believe he's probably right about this. > Yesterday I handed the x-rays to my new dentist and told him that > my previous dentist said I have cavities. Now my new dentist is [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > had me lie down and took another visual look and said again he > didn't see any. Possible. The x-rays don't scan that well; I'd take the word of the dentist who examines you under normal circumstances. > Then I called my previous dentist up and said my new dentist > didn't find any cavities (for anyone who's interested in why I [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Should I tell my new dentist the cavity's location as the other > dentist told me? No. As good a dentist that I daresay I am, I'm at a hugh disadvantage to the good dentist examining you. If your old dentist saw cavities, it may be appropriate for the two to speak to each other if their diagnoses were different, but they're the doctors. I'm just an anonymous (to you) potential troublemaker. This is not rocket science; they should be able to find any cavities that are present. Good luck, Steve >>> Thank you all for helping. But this is getting interesting. >>> [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Steve  SignatureMark & Steven Bornfeld DDS http://www.dentaltwins.com Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001
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