Restoration of tooth #29 DO with composite dental bonding

A 48 year old male patient presented for restoration of tooth #29 DO with composite. Patient had an amalgam filling in the tooth and according to a PA, there was a recurrent decay present around and on the gingival floor under the temporary filling.

I went in with a 1556 bur and removed the amalgam filling to assess the amount of decay present under it. I also removed the temporary filling to assess the remaining amount of decay. Under the amalgam there were a few spots where decay process had begun. Also, on the distal wall, there was extensive decay. After having reevaluated the PA that we had available for #29 to see the depth of the distal axial wall decay, we also became suspicious of the mesial side of #29 where we saw a radiolucency that could have been potential decay. In order not to come back to #29 later in the treatment process, we decided to take another bitewing centered on the mesial of #29.

R.F., New York University College of Dentistry, Patient 2

Categorised in: Dental Student Experiences

This post was written by Interns