Patient could tell something didn’t feel right, it hurt initially, and a small piece broke off, but, then, the pain temporarily subsided. There was meaningful decay into the dentin in the area where the chipping occured. We removed the old amalgam, the caries (decay), and restored with a composite. Recurrent decay with associated fracture: #19 – DOB
He wore through the cusp tips from grinding. I did not extend the outline of the filling into the areas of erosion on those cusp tips, as the patient’s grinding was largely historic from having very large tonsils in his youth. He did not have his tonsils out until 18 or 19-years-old. The airway disturbance, akin to Obstructive Sleep Apnea, caused associated bruxism. If we did extend the outline of the filling into those areas, the tooth would be very weak and would require a crown and would be at high risk of fracture.