How have the mighty fallen? OT.

[Owain]

Wouldn't the chrome plating flake off?

Owain

[Mary Fisher]

For sandwiches, yes. But not for anything else.

The vinegar of pickled beetrot is delicious! I used to sneakily drink some, my mother found out and told me it would dry my blood. It hasn't yet.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Without unwrapping it?

EEK! The silver paper plays havoc with my fillings if I leave the tiniest trace!

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I'd never heard of retractors until recently when a surgeon asked Spouse to make a pair. I was horrified! It takes a lot to make me squirm but those vicious things - I suppose they must have been used on me :-(

Mary

>

[Gregoire Kretz]

There it is! We now have the proof that Cadbury's *can* get their hands on decent cocoa, it's afterwards in the production process that things get horribly wrong!

Greg

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 10:41:16 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote (in article ):

You still have some amalgam fillings?

[Mary Fisher]

I'm very old :-(

Mary

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Mary Fisher" typed

I am considerably younger and still have a few amalgam fillings. I've had no new ones for the last decade thobut.

[June Hughes]

In message , Andy Hall writes

So do I.

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 13:07:58 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote (in article ):

I'm surprised they've lasted. AFAIK, dentists stopped using this material at least 20 years ago and they have about a 20 year lifetime....

[Owain]

Private dentists may have stopped using amalgam but for us poor people on the Notional Health Service there's no choice unless the filling is on a front tooth or there is some reason why amalgam cannot be used. The NHS will not use non-amalgam for appearance's sake.

I've got a glass ionomer cement filling and although it's nice that it is toothier coloured it feels rougher than the amalgam fillings.

Owain

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

Andy Hall typed

My partner's previous dentist used them within the past 5 years. They have since come to bits,

I have some older amalgams, put in with the time and care you get with good private dentistry.

Partner had an old shoddy NHS dentist.

[Mary Fisher]

No they didn't.

No they don't.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Yes, mine were done at the Dental Hospital, only the finest and most up to date materials and techniques used there.

Mary

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 13:40:18 +0100, Owain wrote (in article ):

Hmm.... I suspect that this is a time thing (and implied cost) rather than a material cost thing

Shouldn't do. Didn't he carefully shape and grind it?

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 14:35:35 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote (in article ):

Well.... that's what my dentist said. Nobody in the practice has for that time, nor anybody that he knows.

Less?

[graham]

My dentist has replaced a couple of my fillings in the last 3-4 years and wants to do another now. They were/are around 40 years old! Graham

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Mary Fisher" typed

Most of my souvenirs from Leeds Dental Hospital are no more, though I think I have a few.

I've had them 20 years...

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

Andy Hall typed

Like all jobs, attention to preparation, execution and finish *vastly* influence life of the final product. A well-done amalgam, burnished a few days after completion, in a favourable mouth may last several decades. A crap job comes to bits in a couple of years.

[Owain]

Preparation time is the main indicator of a long-term successful filling, and something that NHS dentists don't have the luxury of.

Are you suggesting that squidging into place like thermal compound on a heatsink and smearing it round with a spatula wasn't sufficient?

I hate my teeth and would willingly have the whole lot pulled but I can't afford dentures.

Owain