Radio Spot – Fillings Reedit
Ben: Thanks for joining us AM1440, KUHL. It is Thursday and time once again for Dr. Dino’s Cool Truths About the Tooth. And today we’re going to be talking about different filling materials. And we have Dr. Dino Bonyadii, he’s a local dentist here in Santa Maria with us in studio. And Doctor, thanks for joining us once again.
Dr. Dino: Good morning Ben and thank you for having me.
Ben: So different filling materials. I guess this usually comes into play when people have cavities.
Dr. Dino: That’s correct. And that’s a question that I get asked often, at my practice.
Ben: What are the different filling materials?
Dr. Dino: Well we have several choices. One would be the silver filling, some people call it metal filling, some people call it the black filling, or I’ve even heard the term black hole in the tooth. What this material is, is a mixture of silver and mercury, with a trace amount of copper and tin in it.
Ben: Sure, now you mentioned mercury here, so is this a health concern for patients?
Dr. Dino: This has been a very big debate in the dental community as to the nature of this material and release of mercury. As we all know, mercury is poisonous to humans. It’s a heavy metal. Once it enters your body, it does not leave your body. It’s kind of like radiation. It’s accumulative. Some people may be more sensitive to it than others, some people may show neurological or some other health symptoms due to mercury poisoning.
Ben: Are there any alternatives to using this material?
Dr. Dino: Absolutely. We have composite resin material, which is an alternative. Now this is known as the tooth-colored filling, or bonding. And it’s an alternative. Now, you may ask what’s the difference between the two, which one is better? Well, personally, I would not want mercury in my mouth. So right there, at least for me, it rules out the silver fillings. Also, there are other properties besides the mercury aspect of it that composite, tooth-colored fillings have that silver fillings don’t. One of them is bondability. With tooth-colored fillings, we can actually bond the material to the tooth, it’s glued onto your tooth. So imagine if you have a tooth that has a very large filling in the middle of it, what would you rather have in there? Something that bonds to the walls of this teeth and keeps the integrity and the structure or strength of the tooth? Or if you have silver filling, which in essence, it stays in by pressure. It’s like a cork in a wine bottle.
Ben: Now you mention these two materials, is there anything else out there?
Dr. Dino: Yes, there’s a third alternative which is called inlays. Basically, inlays are kind of like crowns. The process is the same, where you prepare the tooth, not for a crown of course, it’s much more conservative. Some people choose inlays because of its conservative nature. Inlays, basically we make a little prosthesis that fits right into the cavity, and we bond that. Now inlays are made out of porcelain. Therefore, they are far more wear-resistant in comparison to the composite filling.
Ben: And we are speaking to Dr.Dino Bonyadii, Dr. Dino’s Cool Truths About the Tooth. And today, we’re talking about different filling materials. And doctor, let me ask you as a patient, I come into your office, do I have a choice on what material you would use to fill that cavity?
Dr. Dino: Yes. Patients always have a choice. Question that comes in, number one, with patients with insurance, the first question they ask, “Is it covered by my insurance?” Some insurance companies are covering it at 80%, 100%, depending on the coverage that you have on your plan. Even insurance companies that do not cover tooth-colored fillings on back teeth, they do compensate for silver fillings where a patient will be responsible for the difference. Which is really not much. Now when you think about the benefits of tooth-colored fillings or inlays, in comparison to silver fillings, I personally will pay a little extra not have mercury in my mouth.
Ben: So that’s up to the patient though?
Dr. Dino: It’s absolutely up to the patient. And if your doctor does not give you all these options, sit down with you, talk to you and give you all of these options, then your doctor is not doing his job.
Ben: All right. So again, if you’d like more information on the different filling materials, a couple of options for you. One is to go to your website.
Dr. Dino: Yes. Which is DrDinoB.com.
Ben: Okay. And then also they can call your office.
Dr. Dino: They can call the office. They can make an appointment to come in for a no-charge consultation. I’ll be more than happy to sit down and discuss the nature of all of this material and what would be suitable for them.
Ben: What’s the number over there by the way?
Dr. Dino: It’s 925-7343.
Ben: And don’t forget to like you on Facebook. And Dr. Dino, our time is up for this week, but what are we going to be talking about next week?
Dr. Dino: Next week I like to talk about importance of dental checkups. Now, everybody might say well you go for a checkup to see if I have cavities or not. But, no. There are other aspects that we as dentists look to ensure it’s in healthy state in the mouth. That patient may not be aware of, so I will be talking about all that.
Ben: So that will be next time here at 7:15 Thursday morning. Hope you can tune in folks. For Dr. Dino’s Cool Truths About the Tooth with Dr.Dino Bonyadii. Doctor, thanks for the time today.
Dr. Dino: Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day.