Fillings

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="021285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC33" FACE="Arial" ><B>Lake Stevens Dental Clinic</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lake Stevens Dental Clinic"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>                                                </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC33" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>Fillings</B></I></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hygiene"><U>Hygiene</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tooth Decay"><U>Tooth Decay</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gum Disease"><U>Gum Disease</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cosmetic Dentistry"><U>Cosmetic Dentistry</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Root Canal"><U>Root Canal</U></A>   |   <B>Fillings</B>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crowns"><U>Crowns</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tooth Whitening"><U>Tooth Whitening</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=140 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="020d4c00dkelyh.gif"> <div>  </div> <div>  </div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Tooth Colored Fillings</B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">We use tooth colored fillings for virtually all of our fillings.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Dr Fred has been providing mostly tooth colored fillings for over ten years.</div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">How long</B> a filling (tooth colored or not) lasts depends upon a variety of things.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">How big is the filling and how much chewing is done on the tooth and filling?</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Small fillings may last 20 or more years</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Medium sized fillings may last 5 to 15 years</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Large fillings may last 2 to 10 years.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Many teeth with large fillings are destined to eventually become <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crowns"><U>crowns</U></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Modern techniques and filling materials allow many teeth to be saved that might be lost a few years ago.</div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Deep fillings</B> may be a precursor to a root canal, if bacteria got to the nerve before the decay was removed.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">About 40% of teeth with very deep fillings seem to end up with <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Root Canal"><U>root canals</U></A>.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Warranty</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If a filling breaks before two years, it will generally be replaced without charge.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Exceptions are situations where the doctor feels the filling isn't likely to last and notifies the patient that it's probably not going to last very long, in which case there is no warranty about how long the filling might last.  Some might last a few weeks, or few years...  </div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Buildups</B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A buildup is basically a filling on a tooth prior to doing a crown on the tooth.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The buildup replaces the decay and missing tooth structure so a quality crown can be achieved. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Most insurance pay differently on buildups than fillings.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Insurance will typically not allow for a filling to be converted into a crown for 2 years.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Hence teeth with large fillings that are destined to be crowns must have their fillings billed out as buildups instead of fillings.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">OK, so it's a bunch of red tape -- such is the nature of insurance these days. </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>