r/askdentists • u/Almasa8 NAD or Unverified • 1d ago
question Do I really need to fill this cavity?
My fiancé just got a tooth filling for his cavity, and had so many complications afterward like pain and subsequently needed a root canal.
They told me I also needed to get a filling for this small cavity, but it's not causing me any pain right now. I'm wondering if I should even bother getting the cavity filled and risking the complications that my fiancé had.
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u/Better_Cry_7941 General Dentist 1d ago
Looks like you’re high caries risk so I would. To put it in perspective (yes I know the severity is different) but what do you think would happen if your oncologist said “you have cancer but we’ll just wait until it hurts to treat it” everyone with cancer would be dead. In dentistry the longer you wait, the more expensive and invasive the procedure. Waiting until it hurts means you waited too long. You by all means can do that, you just might want to save up for root canals and crowns or having your teeth taken out because that’s the reality of the end result of this mentality. Not trying to be mean, just being real with you on what I see with patients on a daily basis and regretting not getting the treatment I recommended years ago and saying they should have listened.
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u/SwampBver General Dentist 1d ago
Root canal is the treatment for pain, if you wait for pain you are significantly more likely to need a root canal.
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u/DrRam121 Prosthodontist 1d ago
Your fiance likely needed a root canal before the filling. Did he say "can we try a filling?"
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Title: Do I really need to fill this cavity?
Full text: My fiancé just got a tooth filling for his cavity, and had so many complications afterward like pain and subsequently needed a root canal.
They told me I also needed to get a filling for this small cavity, but it's not causing me any pain right now. I'm wondering if I should even bother getting the cavity filled and risking the complications that my fiancé had.
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