All my fillings have all gone just got a few corners left not sure of which filling it is but they were grey colour if they were mercury then all them fillings have been swallowed with some bit spat out when they broak
When my grandfather was cremated just over 30 years ago it wasn't even allowed to put pictures we drew with him because of pollution.
I remember one of our lecturers telling us about an inspection he carried out at a local practice. Two things of note. One was that they were very slack with their mercury safety, lots of spillages and poor storage. The second was how extraordinarily rude the dental nurse was. As the inspector was leaving, the dentist felt obliged to take him to one side and apologise for the behaviour of the nurse. Couldn’t really understand it, he said, as when she started work with him, she was really lovely! Sadly in my case it’s not the amalgam that’s failing, it’s the increasingly thin tooth enamel round the edges succumbing to years of wear and tear. I’ve got a couple of teeth where my dentist and I have taken the pragmatic approach of just smoothing down what’s left of the tooth to make them as easy clean as possible. At least they are functional, and although not pretty, they are at the back of my mouth, and if anybody gets that close to see them, I shall have serious words with them!
Reminds me of the Pam Ayres lines: So I lie in the old dentist's chair And I gaze up his nose in despair And his drill it do whine In these molars of mine "Two amalgam" he'll say, "for in there".
I've got a dentist appointment tomorrow, having a couple of fillings, not had any filling for a few years now, when I was younger every time I went it was three fillings at least.
The pain has been taken out of the procedure since we were children, @pete. I don't even bother with the numbing injection these days. Just let the dentist crack on.
I think it depends on how deep they drill, just a small filling is ok but something near the nerve is not so easy, the drill vibration always makes my nose itch and I can't not scratch it. Plus I cant afford big ones, probably need a mortgage.
I had maximum painkiller for my molar extraction last month. It had 3 roots. All I heard was a crunch and it was out. It had been there nearly 60 years I suppose. Took 60 seconds to rip it out. I have a photo, but it would put you off your tea. When I was a kid they used to spray something on. No injections. And of course had gas once. Not nice.
I'm sure when I was pretty young I had ether to get a tooth out. Most of my extractions have taken ages, lots of hammering and grinding away, I still have part of one left from abortive attempts to get it out, they just stitched the gum over it but it came through a year or so afterwards. I went to a specialist place to have a couple of wisdom teeth out and he whipped them both out in less than 5 minutes, I still remember him throwing the bits across the room and clattering in a metal bin.
@pete I certainly had ether for tooth removal when I was a kid. I was just 5 years old when it was suggested to my mum that I should have one back tooth removed because my teeth were overcrowded. When she was allowed in to collect me, this was done at the hospital, they had removed all 4 back teeth. Definitely not what she expected, but in hindsight it makes sense. I haven't been able to stand that smell, or anything similar, ever since. I also had to go into hospital to have my wisdom teeth removed (not installed as a dear friend tried to suggest). I'd had the pre-med when the consultant came along and said he'd seen the x-rays and, if they were his teeth, he wouldn't let anybody touch two of them because the roots were entwined with the nerves to my tongue and lips. Was it OK with me if he left them? What sort of time was that to ask? :-) He did leave them and thankfully I've had no further trouble with them.
I was told that just before he took my wisdom teeth out, and had to sign something to the effect that I knew there could be problems, luckily there wasn't.
