Surely this can't be right?

The term "pin head fillings" must be a UK thing as I've never heard of them. Perhaps different materials are used??? A filing would only have to be redone in unusual cases. I as I bet many others go twice/yr to the dentist. Cleanings are done at both visits and I'm on a schedule for xrays too.
I switched dentists about 2yrs ago and am now going to the same one my husband sees. The other I felt was money hungry. Wanted to crown a molar that I have extensive filings in. I know that eventually I may need a crown but the filing had been good for at least 7 yrs now!!. For a while I was grinding my teeth and wanted to make a custom mouth guard (this means $$$). Well my teeth grinding stopped and I've heard the custom mouth guards are hard to use.
So I concur that you are being taken and should see someone else. I think the semi-annual visits for the checkup and cleaning are less than $70.

Originally Posted by twofatcats

I would get a second opinion. However, it could also be accurate. I've gone years sometimes without having a filling, but the dentist told the assistant to just note a "watch" on several teeth, then eventually I ended up needing six or eight fillings all at once when all the "watches" got bad enough to do something about.

Nearly all my other teeth were watch!!

Do you drink a lot of soda pop or fruit juice? After I got in a habit of drinking soda pop, that's when my teeth really started to go downhill fast. After fifteen years of drinking two or three cans a day, I've finally kicked the habit. But by now the enamel, especially near the gumline, is so thin that it doesn't take much to wear through and require another filling. I think I've had 12 fillings and two crowns in the past three years. And I believe it is legit. It is the same dentist I've been going to for 18 years and he just puts a "watch" on them when he can. At my age (63) and with that many years of just sipping pop over a period of hours instead of drinking one down, then brushing, I'm just lucky I don't have dentures by now.

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I will admit to drinking a hell of a lot more Coke this last year cos I rely on the caffine cos of the hours I work. I've stopped now and haven't had a can for like a month now which is a big deal for me Thank you everyone for your opinion and advice

I think Dentists are for sure a little shady, but Ive checked my x rays, and done a lot of research and feel confident Ive never been scammed. My 4 cavities are truly mine. With this case though, the one question I havnt seen asked is: Any chance your clean reading last year may have been incorrect? Perhaps last time the dentist made a bit of a mistake, didnt catch/correct the problems, and now, a year later its much more noticeable. I think the second opinion idea is fantastic. Bet those dentists dont count on shopping around!

Originally Posted by GailC

The term "pin head fillings" must be a UK thing as I've never heard of them. Perhaps different materials are used???

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Gail a pin head filling is basically what it means?!. It's a brand new filling which is only the size of a pin head?!. I have a few from my old dentist even though i didn't have any problems, but everytime the dentist gives one of these "pin head" fillings they get paid not only by us but by the goverment also, and the problem is these fillings don't last forever, so everytime they have to be replaced years later, they naturally have to drill a bigger hole to put a replacement filling in.

I drink a lot of sugar free diluted juices and diet pepsi, but i always brush my teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Lindsey if you do find a new dentist, you could get in touch with the patients charter to have your old dentist investigated!.

Originally Posted by Februa

I think Dentists are for sure a little shady, but Ive checked my x rays, and done a lot of research and feel confident Ive never been scammed. My 4 cavities are truly mine. With this case though, the one question I havnt seen asked is: Any chance your clean reading last year may have been incorrect? Perhaps last time the dentist made a bit of a mistake, didnt catch/correct the problems, and now, a year later its much more noticeable. I think the second opinion idea is fantastic. Bet those dentists dont count on shopping around!

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I have considered that the other check up wasn't correct.. it is a little worrying..

'Sensodine' always use to make my mouth burn horribly!

I've got horrible teeth, and I dread the dentist for that reason. [Never used to until I met this crazy b**ch - but thats a story for another day!]

I'd definitly get a second opinion!

This all sounds SO familiar to me! I've had the same dentist ever since I was 5. He was so wonderful and always just "watched" dark places on my teeth to see if they might get worse and turn into cavities. I really only had one in about a 16 year period of time. I got married and moved away and had to find a new dentist. This guy found like 4 cavities where I swear I had none. And I have always taken good care of my teeth. I was just crying in the chair, cause not only was I sure he made all that up, but for a young married person, that was a LOT of money!

We moved again, and I had to find a new dentist. THIS one didn't speak much English, but swore up and down I needed a ROOT CANAL. I did get it, and he used not nearly enough numbing stuff. It was horrible! The reason I had to get one is that my first bad dentist had put the filling in too deep and damaged a nerve. Lotsa money, again. My wisdom teeth DID give me trouble while I lived there, and he tried to tell me he was just going to give me "local anasthetic" and yank em out right then and there!!!

Nevertheless, I had a real oral surgeon knock me out and do it the right way. Ever since then, I make special trips home twice a year to visit my REAL dentist.

Originally Posted by GailC

A filing would only have to be redone in unusual cases.

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This one I have to disagree with you about. I had MANY fillings while in my early teens. We foudn out later that the detist was filling teeth that didn't need to be filled and I ended up with a mouth full of fillings for no reason. I never went to the dentist again until last year. I have learned that fillings do get air pockets underneathafter a long period of time and have to be replaced. My fillings are all so old now that they have to be redone. she did show me my x-rays to explain what she was doing adn I did see the air pockets. I believe her and some of these fillings were starting to bother me. I ahve been getting a few fillings a month done since January and I am still not done!

When my NHS dentist, whom I had known since I was a child, retired a few years ago, I started going to one of the new semi-private clinics - I think there are now several chains of htem. The one I used was Whitecross and they seemed very good. Thay have never tried to persuade me to have treatment and they are quite cheap - last year it was around £30 for a check-up and clean.

I usually need about four fillings every other year or so and most of these are redo's. Actually, my teeth kind of rotate with needing fillings. One year I'll need three or four, the next year I'll need three or four for different teeth. My brother and I both have deep crevaces (sp?) in our teeth(it runs in the family), this is why we need fillings more often. I brush about four times a day myself, plus floss, and use mouthwash. Sometimes nothing you do will help. The acids in soda pop are extremely corrosive to teeth and since I cut down on the sodas I haven't needed a filling in a few years. My guess is that you do indeed need the fillings and the soda is to blame. Do you brush your teeth after every soda and everything you put in your mouth? Probably not! That stuff kills your teeth, trust me, I have lots of fillings to prove it!

i know that this isnt related but, i had braces and got them off not long ago, everyday when i brushed my teeth they would bleed (the gums that is) so i kept on switching toothpastes between the sensitive ones and i told my orthodontist that the problem was getting worse and she couldnt understand why.
Since ive had my braces removed which was back in april i have only had one light mouth bleed from brushing my teeth.
i think it will be good to go to get a second even a third opinion

Is there really a problem with mouthwash? I started to get Listerine because the dentist told me that I had the start of some disease - i.e. gingivitis or something ... I thought it wouldn't hurt to try to disinfect my gums. I will have to ask him when I go back for a cleaning on Thurs. I would have never known it , but evidently if they stick sabers/pitch forks or other sharp objects at your gums when you are there and they bleed a bit, then you need about $2000 of work. I told them I thought I needed a gentler Dental Hygenist.

I think dentists have screwed my teeth over when I had that kind of coverage. My teeth have been fine for years and probably had more work done to them than they needed. It makes me mad thinking of it. Get a second and third opinion from a dentist you can trust. I don't know how you can do that though.