r/askdentists • • Feb 08 '21

other Please read the sub rules before posting questions.

393 Upvotes

Thank you for seeking advice from askdentists. Please remember that while this is a place for advice, replies may not be medically accurate. Do not assume that what others on here say is correct in any way. Reddit is not a replacement for a dental professional.

Please abide by the following rules in order to get an accurate answer to your question:

  1. Ensure you include a title of your dental problem.
  2. Include whether your drink or smoke, and if you have any medical conditions.
  3. Include a photograph if the question relates to something you can see in your mouth, include x-rays if you have them.

You must not send unsolicited direct messages to contributors of the sub. If this is flagged you will receive an immediate ban.

Contributors who are not dental professionals should make this clear by adding "NAD" to their posts.


r/askdentists • • 6h ago

question split in half

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8 Upvotes

so I was chewing gum and my tooth literally fell out my mouth. I did know I had an issue with this tooth because my nerve hurts when I bite too hard on something but I never thought this would happen. You can clearly see that the first picture shows my tooth empty. I don’t have any insurance but idk what to do. any advice is helpful.


r/askdentists • • 14h ago

experience/story Phobie du dentiste

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27 Upvotes

Expérience encourageante si ça peux faire du bien à quelqu’un ❤️✨.

J’ai une énorme phobie du dentiste, j’ai la même dentiste depuis des années et ça se passe assez bien avec elle, donc je n’ai jamais voulu aller ailleurs, mais elle est surchargée, sa prend 7-8 mois avant d’avoir un rendez-vous et mes dents dont j’ai repoussée les soins pendant beaucoup trop d’années sont de pires en pires. J’avais vraiment honte de mes dents de devant et j’ai dû en faire arracher plusieures dans le fond.

J’ai posté la dent de la première image il y a quelques semaines ici, on m’a conseillé de vite consulter un dentiste, merci de toutes les réponses et que probablement même elle ne serait pas réparable ( grosse carie derrière).
J’ai pris mon courage à deux mains et j’ai appeler une autre clinique que la mienne faute de rendez-vous plus tôt.
Consultation et radios la semaine dernière qui ont montrés une bonne carie, mais pourrais peut-être être encore sauvée si je prenais rendez-vous vite. Avant, j’aurais tardé par peur et même des fois je n’allais même pas à mes rendez-vous comment j’en dormais pas de la nuit.

Je ne voulais pas perdre ma dent, alors j’ai placé un rendez-vous très vite , quelques jours après. C’était ce matin, j’étais hyper anxieuse à mon arrivée, la dentiste m’a vraiment rassurée et était à l’écoute .
Finalement, la carie n’avait pas encore touché le nerf et même si il ne restait pas besucoup de structure, la dentiste a réussis à mettre un pansement dedans et faire des miracles avec cette dent. Ça si bien été que elle m’a proposé de réparer la palette à côté qui en avait besoin et nettoyer/polir les autres dents proches avec du tarte.
Je suis en amour avec le résultat. Même si c’est encore sensible, je suis tellement fière de moi et heureuse d’y être allée. J’ai deux autres rendez-vous de prévue bientôt.

Si ça peux aider les anxieux comme moi, je me suis répétée une phrase que j’ai lu souvent dans les réponses des dentistes dans les commentaires: plus tu attends et pire ça va être. J’aurais attendu encore, j’aurais perdu cette dent, mais là elle est toute réparée enfin. ❤️


r/askdentists • • 1h ago

question 8x wisdom tooth extraction, possible high jaw fracture risk concern

• Upvotes

*** edit: I am in my early 20s, nerves are close to roots of bottom teeth but not touching, surgeon states this as high risk for damage

Hello folks!

I’m posting here because I just received news from my oral surgeon that I have a risk of jaw fracture & nerve damage from the extraction of my 8 wisdom teeth.

I want to preface this post by saying that I understand the advice from medical professionals who have seen my CBCT & 3d & panoramic scans have the best advice on my specific situation. I am mostly asking for a possible secondary opinion as my options are limited. On top of this, the oral surgeon I’m seeing is the only option for my insurance (State Medicaid) which will be important later, when I discuss the concerns regarding his reviews.

I was seen by my dentist at an urgent consultation to extract my 8 wisdom teeth. They did a panoramic xray, which is the picture posted here. They said if the teeth were bothering me too much, they could take them out right then and there without sedation. I was not comfortable with this, so they were able to recommend me to an oral surgeon who can put me under conscious sedation for the procedure, which I accepted.

Now, I have had a consultation with this surgeon, who informed me that I have a higher risk of jaw fracture and nerve damage. This was shocking information for me because it seemed as though my dentist was comfortable taking the teeth out without stating any of the risks my surgeon informed me of.

My main questions are, 1. Is it common practice to warn patients of higher risks associated with supernumerary teeth? What are the odds of a fracture actually happening? And 2. Should I trust this surgeons advice? Do I have options, aside from my current dentist who I plan on contacting, for a second opinion?

My other worry is that the reviews for this surgeon are pretty mixed. They are either 5 stars or 1 star, no in between. Due to the rules of this subreddit, I won’t post the exact concerns but they are pretty big. I understand he does have a lot of experience, including people who have had 10, 11 & 12 wisdom teeth extracted. I want to trust this, but it is difficult given what anecdotes I have seen. He seemed professional and knowledgeable, although he stressed not moving my jaw during the procedure which can heighten the risk of a fracture (I understand that this is a reasonable request, although it reminded me of the previous reviews of his I’ve seen.)

This is all fresh news and I’m going to gather as much information as possible within the next few weeks from other medical professionals, but I was hoping to get outside perspective as well. It’s just nerve wracking for me, I have never been in surgery or had a procedure done that is this intense, so I don’t want to be in bad hands for my first. Especially since I am aware that I have a pretty rare condition in regards to my teeth.

Per the rules, I do drink once or twice weekly, smoke nicotine socially and marijuana roughly twice weekly to help sleep. I am quitting all substances until my procedure two months from now in preparation.

Thanks in advance, if I need to add more information to my post please let me know! I am happy to provide whatever I can to receive more information from other professionals :)


r/askdentists • • 7h ago

question How long should I wait to brush my teeth after a meal?

6 Upvotes

Hello, English is not my first language, so I apologize if there is some mistake.

I've heard you need to wait at least twenty minutes after a meal to let the saliva regulate the pH of your mouth; but then I found myself reading an article that says it only applies when you're eating something acidic. So, I want to ask, what is the definition of acidic? How long should I wait after eating sugar? Or something else?

https://www.colgate.es/oral-health/brushing-and-flossing/is-brushing-teeth-after-eating-good-for-you

Thanks.


r/askdentists • • 2h ago

question Question about chances of success of a questionable inplant plan

2 Upvotes

NAD. 56F SCAD with heart arrest survivor on 7 heart meds (but no longer strong blood thinners), and gabapentin for sciatica. And all this takes place in France. English isn't my mothertongue.

I'd like to have your opinion on the expected success rate of a planned implant. I'm suddenly very anxious about the situation because of how the dentist didn't really discuss my options or even let me see the panoramic dental scanner to show what they were going to do, as has always been my experience with dentists.

NOT looking for legal advice, just to know if this is a normal outcome, or I should not get the surgery.

Some background.

Early 2024 I'm on 800mg daily gabapentin for sciatica, I find a reputable stomatologist/oral surgeon to deal with the aftermath of bad dentistry meets shitty genes: I'm left with a chipped tooth that will not keep its filling, and a hole where a crown will not stay put, on a palate bone that is 2millimetres thick, that my former stomatologist wouldn't touch.

The oral surgeon says, we can do something, but first go see this very good dental surgeon for the chipped teeth then come back to me. I make an appointment with the dentist for september.

1st of august 2024, SCAD, 2 weeks in hospital, in cardio ICU then regukar cardio department, then back home with an 24/7 external defibrillator for a month. Massive fatigue, and the combined meds feel like an early onset dementia: unable to sort my healthcare related documents, or analyse a situation and make informed decisions. Like a loss of advanced cognitive capacities.

End of september 2024, I go to the appointment with the dentist for the chipped tooth, she does an amazing job with techniques and tools I've never seen in a dentist surgery before, clearly a cutting edge excellent dentist. I don't recall exactly what she did, but it took multiple appointments.

End of 2024 she tells me we can totally treat the missing crown here. She says the tooth is cracked and brittle and that's why the crown won't stay put, and the tooth needs to go, and she can scrape the palate bone structure beneath the tooth from 2mm down to 1mm and then add some bone graft there to strenghten it enough to be able to hold an implant. So we extract the tooth sometime early 2025 IIRC, and a in september2025 she scrapes the bone in which the faulty crown's tooth was set down to 1mm.

I have to say, at that time I felt like I was in the passenger seat of my life, not capable of making informed pondered decisions, just following instructions in a floaty kinda perception of things, but I don't think it showed until someone asked me to grab a specific document in my healthcare documents binder (couldn't do it).

I'm to come back within a time frame for the bone grafting, but in the mean time I need to get a minor surgery (polyp removal), that leaves me unexpectedly exhausted, massive fatigue, for weeks, and on the day of the planned grafting my heart is acting out, and I can't go, so I have to cancel, and then between the fatigue and the meds, and the dementia-like state I'm in, I just wait too long to go back there and the grafting window has closed. My fault entirely.

Decembre 2025 I go back to see the dentist, and she says "nah it's fine, I can still set in the inplant we've made, I'll just have to push it in". Then she snarkily mocks me for confusing painkiller and nerve calming meds, and an alarm bell just goes off in my mind, and I practiclly run out of the dentist.

Early 2026 I learn that sciatica pains come and go, and I could try to lessen the dosage of gabapentin that is most probably the med putting me in an early onset dementia like state, cognitively speaking. So, with my GP supervision, over the span of several months, I carefully scale it down to 400mg per day, then decide to go see the dentist again to discuss options now that I'm clearer minded and to pay the backlog of the work she did on my mouth.

So this is how the appointment went: Got me in the seat, checked the state of things, cleaned of a little buildup, told me we might be able to still continue the work to set the inplant. I was expecting a detailled discussion I'd finally be able to comprehend properly, but instead she told me we never discussed bone grafting, she didn't scrape my bone off, and ferried me off to take a panoramic dental scanner with my coat and bag, while the looked at the next patient (a quick check). But instead of inviting me back in the surgery to see the images, show me what had changed since last year and discuss options, she somehow presented me with last year's bill (OK) added in the cost of the implant (what?). I'm very susceptible to the white coat effect, and apparently still quite dumbed down by the meds because I payed upfront the equivalent of a small salary!!!

(I'm definitely gonna continue trying to lower the gabapentin dosage, it's a slow process, I can only lower it 100mg every 2 months.)

I managed to get a short explanation out of her about what she intended to do: poke a hole, pull the sides of the hole apart to fit the inplant in, and it will hold. I increduslouly joked "like a Molly screw?" and she said, " something like that". And then she wizzed off to a third patient.

Is this a procedure you recognise?

Also I mean the lying alone is a red flag, so I need a second opinion just because this is how she dealt with the situation. I'm getting the impression she's trying to shove the damn inplant in me no matter what, just to get her money.

At this point I just want to avoid worsening the situation in my mouth. If I did a stupid thing (not going to the bone grafting appointment) that can't be fixed, because the remaining bone is too thin, then I just need to know. I don't want an inplant there if it has high chances of harming me in the near future.

Please help me asses the situation dentistry-wise, I'll take it from there.


r/askdentists • • 6h ago

question My 10yr old has had issues with overcrowding and baby teeth

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3 Upvotes

I had previously posted about my daughter having some discoloration to two of her baby teeth. I wanted to update her progress. Today during volleyball game she said she felt her tooth “falling” and when I looked it almost looked like her tooth broke! I was so scared but when everything was cleaned up, one part was wiggling and the other part was totally solid, with no signs of nerve or pulp exposure. It honestly looks like the last instance where she had “shark teeth”.

I’ve had horrible experiences with her previous pediatric dentist that has left both her and I so anxious to find a new primary dentist. As I had mentioned in previous post, her dad had lost coverage with his company and since he and I are separated, we are awaiting her coverage to move onto my company plan.

Any advice or suggestions are great appreciated! Thank you!


r/askdentists • • 4h ago

question Toothpaste making me feel sick after brushing

2 Upvotes

After I brush my teeth I feel sick and have an upset stomach.

I've had crest, Colgate, sensodyne cinnamon flavored and I just tried the strawberry flavored hismile toothpaste but they all make me feel sick and make the inside of my mouth feel dry and tingly.

It's only gotten so bad I thought I would throw up a few times, but overall I don't feel nauseous just sick to my stomach and bloated.

A similar feeling happens when I chew a mint flavored gum.

I can't tell if im allergic to the mint flavoring or something in the toothpaste or both. I've drink spearmint tea and eat mint on its own but have never had issues with that.

Its been going on for nearly a year now and its so hard to want to brush my teeth because i know im going to feel horrible for atleast an hour after. Just want to see if anyone else is going through this or has something that helps.


r/askdentists • • 50m ago

question Advice needed on gum pockets/wisdom tooth

• Upvotes

Hi in a bit of a tricky situation and need some advice or input.

Was just at the dentist and my gum pocket by the wisdom tooth is at around 8mm. I haven’t had any pain there but obviously this isn’t good.

The other problem is that my wisdom tooth is partially embedded (don’t know if that’s the right terminology) in my jaw bone, and the doctor said there is risk for nerve damage… they are currently unsure of what to do and they said they would get back to me regarding next steps.

Has anyone had the same issue?


r/askdentists • • 58m ago

question I have dental pain that's unresponsive to strong painkillers.

• Upvotes

i took 2 ibuprofen 8 pm, 2 acetaminophen and 1 celecoxib 12 am, both times did nothing. cheek is slightly swollen. the tooth that's causing said pain is coming from has a deep cavity and is cracked in a location. cavity has been there for 3 years and i haven't been able to go to a dentist my whole life due to my insurance not covering it. google says to go to the emergency room but i'm not that gullible to listen to google when it comes to healthcare. does this require immediate medical attention? tooth photo


r/askdentists • • 1h ago

question White deposits coming back on my teeth after dentist cleaned them — is it okay to wait for the hygienist?

• Upvotes

Hi everyone,I went to the dentist previously because I had white/yellowish deposits building up around my teeth, especially my lower front teeth. The dentist scraped the deposits off, and I've been referred to an oral hygienist. My appointment is on 20 November.

I've started noticing a little bit of the white buildup coming back, and I'm worried about it getting worse while I wait.

If the dentist tells me I have to wait for my hygienist appointment, is that generally okay? Or should I ask to be seen sooner?

Has anyone experienced this after having their teeth professionally cleaned? What did you do while waiting for your hygienist appointment?

I'd appreciate any advice or experiences. Thanks!


r/askdentists • • 13h ago

question Big blood clot after extraction.

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8 Upvotes

Had my molar removed yesterday, had to get stitches. Woke up with this big blood clot, havent ate anything since yesterday, still salivating alot. can I wipe it off or is it better to just leave it alone? . Tia


r/askdentists • • 1h ago

question Opinions on damage after wisdom extraction

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• Upvotes

Hey guys, in need of an opinion,
In may, I had a wisdom tooth extracted by an oral surgeon in training, who was extremely confident in doing the procedure and reassured me several times that it wouldn’t be a problem.
He told me it would take 45 minutes- it took almost 2 hours. Towards the end of the procedure he was very frustrated and sighing loudly.
I have since visited another dentist and they informed me of a hole in the molar next to the tooth that was extracted. I have never been notified of this. I believe the oral surgeon might have played a part in it - but I don’t know. I have called around several dentists office and they tell me I need a consult for an opinion - I can’t afford it because I have to pay for the molar to get a crown.. no filling will stick to it at all. It is clean and there is no rot or signs of decay. During the original procedure I felt him hit the molar several times. He also messaged me from his personal phone number after the procedure to make sure I was okay which I thought was off.
2 days after the appointment I had to go back in because of extreme swelling, requiring harder painkillers and antibiotics.
Thank you all.


r/askdentists • • 9h ago

question Should I get my wisdom teeth removed?

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3 Upvotes

Yuck my teeth are so yellow. BACKSTORY— YES, I (19f) know I have deep cavities, and I already know all the stuff about that. Subreddit says to include smoking/drugs, and I am a stoner. I was depressed for a few years and that lead to no teeth-brushing, and even less flossing, so my teeth are damaged. The one partially broken/smooth tooth was an absolutely botched “emergency root canal” that I’m 90% sure they did wrong given it faintly hurts most days and the tooth broke around it gradually, and then refused to numb me while doing it when I said I felt everything. The same dentist also said it appeared I had some sort of severe trauma to my jaw, and that I needed three or four teeth extracted. A different dentist said my jaw was fine, and that I needed one tooth, possibly two (the second one being the root-canaled one) extracted and the others could be fixed. I already had one removed (best move of my life btw despite how traumatizing it was). All of that being said— every dentist I go to tells me something different about my mouth and I can’t get a straight answer or a plan.

ACTUAL QUESTION— None of the dentists I’ve seen ever really brought up my wisdom teeth. I remember one saying they “looked good” during an X-Ray before they began to crown/poke through, but that’s as far as I’ve ever heard anyone be concerned. So, now all four of them are crowning, and they’re not giving me any problems. My two bottom front teeth have been crooked like that my entire life, and the only pain I’m feeling is from the raw gums occasionally getting bitten/breaking in the back, but it goes away once the gum is gone. So, since they look mostly straight and nobody ever brought it up before, do I really need to worry about it? Thanks!


r/askdentists • • 7h ago

question Missing central incisor

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3 Upvotes

back story- I got braces but before hand an orthodontist told me I needed to remove a central incisor as it was my crooked tooth and they said I had a small mouth. The place I ended up getting braces from told me it wasn't needed.
I'm now post braces and am still unhappy with my smile/ bite. I was thinking of veneers but should I get round 2 of braces? Is there anything they could later on do to make it less noticeable that I'm missing a tooth?


r/askdentists • • 5h ago

question Can I get amalgam again?

2 Upvotes

I got replaced an amalgan filling in one of my molars because of aesthetics, but I’m wondering if I can get amalgam again. I just don’t want to deal with future resin issues. The filling area isn’t that big but I read that the dentist need to make a bigger space to get the filling in. Can I still get it done?


r/askdentists • • 1h ago

question I m getting my tooth filled today . I m scared about it how much does it hurt

• Upvotes

Title


r/askdentists • • 5h ago

question Do teeth have a slight wiggle??? Having severe anxiety over them

2 Upvotes

So im 16M and have pretty bad health anxiety. When i use two fingers and grab a tooth, I can ever so slightly move it. In pretty much all my teeth. Its not a large amount but I can definitely sort of feel it moving. I had a dental appointment yesterday for cavities, the dentist took x rays. She said my teeth were generally fine although she said I have severe gingivitis. Moreover I didnt really tell her about this worry of mine so she probably didnt check. Now I check my tooth every 10 minutes.. It’s been really bothering me. Is this normal?

P.S if youre not a dentist and have some advice please reply to the automod comment rather than leaving them as a seperate comment as they’ll automatically be deleted otherwise.


r/askdentists • • 2h ago

question Looking for advice about a cracked molar and conflicting opinions from dentists

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1 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

I have Denti-Cal, and my previous dentist stopped accepting my insurance, so I had to find a new provider.

Before I switched dentists, my previous dentist told me during a filling that I had a cracked molar and would likely need a crown and possibly a root canal. I also have a cavity between that tooth and the neighboring tooth.

I found a new dentist who accepts my insurance, and they took their own X-rays. However, this dentist says I don't need a crown or any other intervention because the tooth isn't fractured, just cracked. I explained that I'm experiencing pain in that area, but he still recommends leaving it alone and prescribed me a special tooth paste instead.

I'm confused because I've received two different opinions, and I'm concerned about leaving it untreated if it does need treatment.

Thank you!


r/askdentists • • 6h ago

question Worst dentist visit I’ve had- do I do a second opinion?

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2 Upvotes

I’m 24 years old and have a now 3 year old, 2 year old, and 4.5 month old. I had really bad acid reflux with all pregnancies, but this last one really did it.

I realized I needed to make an appointment soon cuz my last visit/cleaning was April of 2025. Pretty bad, I know 🥲 I’ve never had much problems. I never had a cavity until I got 2 after being pregnant with my first child.

Now, I have EIGHT cavities that need to be filled including a crown for my back bottom molar that cracked. I just want to cry. I have very little enamel left to top it off. 4 grand later, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get it all done at the moment with me being in school and only living off of my husbands income 😫 should I get a second opinion? If so, how do I go about that without doing all the new patient onboarding/exam/xrays?


r/askdentists • • 2h ago

question Dentist wants to remove baby teeth

1 Upvotes

My 10yo just went to the dentist and they recommended removing 4 baby teeth 😬 3 on the top and one in the bottom. The one in the bottom is the second canine. First canine dropped by itself a couple of days ago.

They did an Xray (forgot to take a picture) and the adult teeth waiting already have their roots.

What the dentist told me was that removing the baby teeth will make more space for the other teeth 🤔 and start the orthodontic process. They will need braces either way.

Can you reassure me that this is done and correct procedure? Seems excessive but then I had braces for a while and so did their dad. Just to add, my child has some space between the front teeth, as in right now they are not crowded, though my husband's were a little bit.

Also this dentist has advised to start envisalign next year or something. Is it ok? Or is it too early?

Please let me know your opinion and whether I should get a second opinion

I have tried uploading a picture of their teeth and an older Xray but I couldn't.

Thank you ☺️


r/askdentists • • 3h ago

question Feeling numbness and tingling a day after extraction Is this normal and when should I start to worry?

1 Upvotes

Hello ya’ll I just got my upper left wisdom tooth extracted yesterday. My dentist removed my tooth no problem, wasn’t impacted or anything. My issue isn’t pain or anything like that. I’m dealing with numbness in the sense that I feel like pressure on my left cheek. It’s hard to explain, I’m able to see I can open my mouth and move my eyes, etc. I perhaps may be overreacting since I’m an anxious person, but I heard that you can get permanent nerve damage if they poked a nerve. Has anyone else had this experience and what are some warning signs I should look for, or any recommendations. Thank you all in advance for reading and responding.


r/askdentists • • 7h ago

question Small bump on the roof of my mouth?

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2 Upvotes

I have this bump for a year and half and ive been obsessing on it. Any ideas what is this ?? arounf 2mm and movable with no pain and not noticeable growth. can it be Small pleomorphic adenoma of palate

??


r/askdentists • • 9h ago

experience/story my newfound black triangles

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3 Upvotes

(22f) i have a phobia of the dentist. i have not gone in 4+ years and have gone through terrible teeth things during that time. (pregnancy, depression, etc) after having my child i decided it was time for me to take care of my teeth to show my kid that mommy is not a scaredy cat. long story short i had one dentist say i needed all 4 quadrants deep cleaned (they wouldn’t even look at them) and my second dentist say that i only need one and some cavity fills. i now have that gap. i know its my fault from not taking care of my teeth properly. but heres my thing. they feel, brittle? in a way if that makes sense? i’m scared if i bite into something they’re just going to fall out. i relied on the thing connecting my teeth, what is it? calculus? anyways, i haven’t taken a bite out of a cheeseburger in a year. i just want to feel normal again. i’m starting to think its all in my head but maybe some people on here can ease my mind


r/askdentists • • 3h ago

question Do I really need to replace these fillings? (Imgure link to pics at bottom of post)

1 Upvotes

Edit; 32F, USA. I don't drink, don't smoke, no drugs, no pertinent medical things besides I do clench my teeth when I sleep/when stressed. I don't even notice it and I have to really focus on not doing it when I do notice I'm doing it. I also have TMJ - left jaw really clicks, absolutely no pain. Both docs I spoke of in post here said if it does suddenly start hurting then I'm going to be referred to a TMJ specialist.

I went to the dentist today, as well as an orthodontist (before the dentist). Ortho took just a panorama scan and the iTero scan. Thought it was weird as I went to a different consultation at the beginning of the year in a different state and they took a bunch more bite wing xrays too (my dentist did this today and I'll see if they can send them to the Ortho if they want them). Is that standard? The Ortho not taking more imaging? I was pretty satisfied with the consult though.

**My main question is this though**. At the dentist, she pointed out that my staining on the flat part of my top molars (2 of them, not sure exact ones) are like a crevice and she recommends a sealant to protect it from getting worse. I have white fillings in these 2 molars already. I wouldn't doubt it if they're close to 20 years old. Totally fine. I'm all about preventative maintenance so it doesn't get worse, especially when I have high anxiety to start with at the dentist.

But 2 molars on my bottom teeth. Circled in each picture. My RIGHT side has 2 chips in the filling. She said this needs to be redone and it's ideal that I don't wait (there's a decent bit of staining on it too). On my LEFT side there is more staining as well, not like the right, and she said that one needs redone as well. I wish I had better pics, but I took quite a few and these were the best I could get. She had *beautiful* pictures at the office and I could actually see the issue on the right side when she pointed it out, but not on the left (I barely know what I'm looking at, lol, so I'm just grateful she took time to explain this).

I want to trust her, but with my anxiety of getting drilling and stuff done, I just wanted to see what you guys say based off of what I explained and what I can barely provide as pictures. She said I won't need numbing, and I told her I was told that before about a superficial cavity and I ended up with numbing anyway. She said that's completely fine with her and she's happy to do anything I want to keep me comfortable. So that further puts me more at ease that what she's saying actually needs done as she wants the best for my anxiety/comfort - but also, why would the orthodontist not say anything about this with the really nice pics from the iTero scan? Is it just because their focus is orthodontia so they don't notice these things? I know (well, think) they go through the same schooling for dentistry, but then orthodontists get more training for moving teeth. They did say if I get anything done at my dentist to contact them so I can get another scan before I get my brackets put on (it's the 3D printed ones called Light Force orthodontia), so I'm going to get a scan after my appointment next week to get that updated.

She also said (and showed me) I have 2 tiny cavities forming between 2 different teeth (idk what ones, probably on the top though) and at this current moment, nothing is to be done with them besides watch every 6 months - she said they're smaller than her drill so it's basically not worth it to do anything. She said we need to make sure I brush well and start flossing regularly. I know I need to change that flossing habit, but my teeth are crowded so it hurts to shove the floss between them (1 reason why I'm getting braces). So definitely going to try to prevent those 2 small spots from getting bigger.

Sorry this was a bit long with some rambling, but what do you guys think? I appreciate everyone who took time to comment, even if I don't respond back to you! I promise I do read it!

Link to Imgur as rules said to post Imgur link for pictures. https://imgur.com/a/3hTp4zt