Posts
I received an email and a call today from a colleague (who is also my friend) who was upset about the possibility that silver mercury would no longer be taught in dental schools and therefore not used as a filling material. He felt that most of the direct posterior composites were so poorly placed by general dentists that more harm than good was being done for our patients.
I have not placed silver mercury fillings in almost 20 years and my colleagues both near and far consider me an expert in the placement of beautiful, bonded white resin fillings. I strongly believe that there is no better restoration...for the strength of the restored tooth and the conservative nature of the technique. (This means that little or no tooth structure is removed in order to fix the tooth.)
So why is my good friend and colleague so upset that mercury is being phased out???
A large percentage of dentists refuse to learn how to master the art of placing this beautiful, strong bonded white restoration and consequently the restorations fail. It is NOT the resins fault that many dentists refuse to use the material correctly. Many dentists are just too lazy to learn how to use the material correctly...and if they did, our profession and our patients would be better off.
The attached photo clearly shows 4 well done direct posterior resins that I placed for a patient. If your white fillings don't look like the photo perhaps it is time to find a new dentist
