NEW ORLEANS - Dental fillings are getting stronger and less noticeable than the old metal cavity fillings. Now there is a new study to test the latest one on the market and the dentist is looking for patients to get them free.
Inez Scott was having pain in some upper back teeth for quite some time. The dentists at the LSU Health School of Dentistry, discovered she had cavities in two molars she didn't know about, and they filled them.
"It feels excellent. Before I got the fillings, I couldn't like eat on the right side of my mouth, but after, I find myself eating on my right side since the fillings, and I've picked up weight," said Scott, 42 of New Orleans.
Inez got those cavities filled as part of a free study with Dr. Adriana Wilson. Over the next two years, she is testing and comparing two different white composite filling materials. One has been on the market for a couple of decades and the other for three years.
"We're actually looking at the performance of the material itself and the longevity and mostly at the way it looks, so it's aesthetics," said Dr. Wilson, a Clinical Professor of Prosthodontics at the LSU Health School of Dentistry.
If you qualify for the study, you will get two molars filled, one with each of the white materials. Dentists will fill new cavities, or they can remove your old silver or white fillings and give you two new white fillings. There are four follow up visits. It's not only free, but you will be paid for being in the study. The question Dr. Wilson is looking into is whether the new white fillings also hold their whiteness and brightness better than the older white fillings.
"Being white, they, when a patient drinks coffee, or coke, or wine, stuff like that, will stain the composite itself, and it will change color over time," said Dr. Wilson about the older white filling material.
Without this free study, Inez doesn't know what she would have done about her pain.
"Probably would have still been in pain, unable to eat anything, and maybe a little bit skinnier than I am right now. So I'm actually glad that I came and participated," said Scott.
To be in the study:
*Must have two filled old cavities or two new cavities, or one of each, in two of your molars (back teeth).
*You can not have :
· Severe medical complications
· Chronic gum disease or poor oral hygiene
· Dry mouth
· Active orthodontic care
· Pregnancy or breastfeeding
Study visits will be at LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry, 1100 Florida Avenue, New Orleans, LA.
To find out if you qualify, contact Study Coordinator Kelly Treas, RDH, at 504-941-8018, 985-500-4687 or LSUHealthDentalResearch@lsuhsc.edu.