When John Emory smiles or bursts out laughing, there's not the slightest glint of a silver filling in the local hairstylist's mouth.
See, back in the mid-'80s, when Emory had four or five silver fillings, the hair stylist read Jethro Kloss' classic holistic living guide, "Back to Eden."
After Emory finished that book, he was set on telling his dentist: "I want all my silver out." In their place, he wanted porcelain fillings.
Emory was years ahead of the curve. Now, more than 20 years later, people are still getting the silver out. Jerome Cha, a dentist in Tulsa, Okla., said 99 percent of his clients at the Tulsa Cosmetic Dental Center opt to have their silver fillings removed.
Some people believe mercury in silver fillings causes, among other things, autoimmune disease and cancer.
However, Cha said, "There may be some validity but, scientifically, they haven't been able to prove there's any link between mercury in the filling and all the diseases that people claim it causes."
Ultimately, Cha said his clients want their silver fillings removed, "Not necessarily because of the mercury -- just for the cosmetic issue."
On average, Cha's clients have eight or more silver fillings -- "We rarely see a virgin mouth," he said -- so the procedure isn't cheap. It can cost $400-$1,200 per tooth, he said.
In the process, clients have basically two options when it comes to removing the silver fillings, Cha said. "One is what we call composite fillings and those are not as strong," Cha said. "The average lifespan is about seven years, and they start leaking, and you have to get that replaced."
The other option is porcelain inlays or onlays.
"It's actually very similar to natural tooth hardness and it is bonded much tighter," Cha said. "It basically becomes one structure once it is bonded on there."
Unlike the composite fillings, Cha said porcelain should last "the lifespan of that particular tooth." Over all, Cha prefers porcelain restorations, he said.
"The drawback of the composite, or tooth-colored filling, is that it just doesn't stay in your mouth for that long," he said. "Usually, you end up paying more for the composite bonding, versus a silver filling." ... But with a porcelain restoration, if it's done properly, and if it's bonded properly, then you don't have to usually worry about getting that tooth surfaced again.
"I know it costs more, but in the long run, you end up saving more money."
And, at least for one local hair stylist, porcelain makes his smile just a little brighter.
Matt Gleason can be reached at matt.gleason@tulsaworld.com.
Source: Tulsa World. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by Yellowbrix.
